A former terrorist sympathizer has been sentenced to nine years in a United States prison for admitting to helping Somalia-based Al Shabaab militants with material support.
26-year-old Mahdi Hashi was arraigned in a New York court and admitted joining the terror group in 2008, thinking that its aim was to bring peace and not engage in violent and extremist attacks.
According to US District Judge John Gleeson in Brooklyn, New York, the suspect was to be behind bars for nine years since he was guilty even after leaving the group.
Although the prosecutors had proposed a 15-year jail term, the judge reduced the sentence after Hashi proved that he had already cut links with militants.
"I believe you believe this organization you joined was dramatically different than what you thought or hoped it would be," judge Gleeson said.
The court heard that Hashi had abandoned his British citizenship and travelled to support the fighters, after which he quit following the group's involvement in deadly assaults on innocent citizens.
A few weeks ago, another man was charged in the US for supporting al shabaab fighters during an attack on a Kenya Defence Forces base in Lamu County.
Maleek Jones was nabbed after appearing in two separate videos that had been seized from another militiaman.
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