Denver Woman Who Tried to Help ISIS Sentenced to Four Years
Source: NBC News
A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who tried to go to Syria to help Islamic State militants has been sentenced to four years in prison
Shannon Conley learned her punishment in Denver federal court on Friday as her parents watched. She wore a black and tan headscarf with her jail uniform.
Conley pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization in September under a deal that requires her to divulge information she may have about other Americans with similar intentions.
FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who told her he was fighting with the extremists. She repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her skills as a nurse's aide to help.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/isis-terror/denver-woman-who-tried-help-isis-sentenced-four-years-n292586
Hulk
(6,699 posts)Ignorance if far from bliss. What a complete fool. ...but then again, this country seems to be filled with them. We actually reward "stupid"....eg. vannity, bor, the whole fox line-up, limpballs, etc. etc.
NaturalHigh
(12,778 posts)It's not like they are known for their progressive attitudes toward women.
brooklynite
(93,873 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)It's quite effective on the people who feel they aren't really going anywhere in their lives, and want to be part of something bigger than themselves
earthside
(6,960 posts)Nineteen years old.
This poor soul should have gotten a couple months in jail just to reenforce the seriousness of the misguided desire she might have had to 'help' these murderers.
Then a couple years counseling and probation.
I'm not casting aspersions on the young, but what does a 19 year old know about just about anything? I have a very mature 20 year old daughter still at home and folks her age are still very impressionable. (And I remember being 19-20 ... those can be tough years.)
Four years in prison could wreck this individual and if we weren't being so 'terrorized' by the political fear industry a more reasonable and just 'punishment' would have been handed out.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)This seems to be more of a thought crime.
And four years for something that she plead guilty too doesn't seem like much of a 'deal.'
She should be getting mental help not a prison sentence.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)But I don't think it is a thought crime. Based on what I've read she was serious about trying to get to the ME to marry this guy and to try to carry out a terrorist attack on US soil. I think it should be a combination of time in prison and a psych ward. Perhaps splitting the four years in to half each (with the two years mental health being lockdown) would have been more appropriate. I also think she would get good time which would reduce her sentence a little bit if she stays out of trouble in prison.
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)branford
(4,462 posts)the FBI and her family actually tried on numerous occasions to dissuade her from violent activity, and she received a very good plea deal, where if she went to trial her sentence could have been around 25 years under well accepted laws.
Foolish and impressionable is also not the equivalent to mentally ill. At 19 years old, she certainly knew what she was doing was illegal.
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2015/1/23/223026/723/Colo_News/Colo-Wannabe-Terror-Teen-Sentenced-to-Four-Years
blackspade
(10,056 posts)No? then this is a thought crime.
She thought about helping ISIS, She didn't actually carry it out.
That is the difference.
And that plea deal sucked. Only in our fucked up judicial system could that be called very good.
Actual murderers and rapists get less all the time.
branford
(4,462 posts)Criminals are sometimes caught before they carry out illegal acts of violence and other malfeasance. Her acts would have been criminal in most, if not all, the western world and beyond.
What makes this case so unusual was that rather than engage in a sting or similar conduct, the defendant openly admitted her illegal intentions, and the FBI actually tried repeatedly to get her to reconsider, including enlisting the assistance of her parents. She wasn't arrested until she tried to board her one way series of flights and travel to Syria.
Her plea agreement and sentence were extremely lenient, and she had more than ample notice and opportunity save herself.
And I still think the plea deal sucked, but you are entitled to your opinion.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)then has written down the torture and rape he plans to do to her-
But, gets busted at the last minute- We should just give him a break. He was just thinking about it....he didn't actually carry it out.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)msanthrope
(37,549 posts)But I have set one in motion.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)Now if you just thought about it.....
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)She was imminently about to execute her plan.
Sorry but this was way beyond just thinking about it...
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)or hire a "specialist" to "make your problem disappear", and then tell the court you're being prosecuted for a "thought crime"
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)Could she be delusional? Was the guy even for real? Is she that lonely? Is it really that hard to meet a nice guy these days? I just don't understand her story at all. Sounds like a person with some sort of psychiatric disorder to me. But then . . . . I don't know anything more about her than what is in this story.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)"Last year, Shannon Conley was arrested in Denver attempting to board a plane for the Middle East. She was going to join ISIS on the battlefield, despite multiple warnings by the FBI to stay away.
"In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Moore was unconvinced by Conley's disavowal of jihad. He said she was 'a bit of a mess... and needs psychological help.'
"Conley had become engaged to the ISIS member, and planned to marry him. Conley, in court wearing a head scarf and jail uniform, unsuccessfully pleaded for a lesser sentence. She told the judge the FBI had saved her life by arresting her."
Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Chances are her "suitor" was not an ISIS militant but probably a fraud artist.
eissa
(4,238 posts)more than the ISIS members themselves. Does she realize how lucky she is to be a western woman? Does her pitifully small mind not understand that there are women in many regions of the world that would trade places with her in a heartbeat? That the rights and freedoms she enjoys are nowhere near experienced by many women, particularly in that region?
I would love to bring in the sex slaves that ISIS is currently holding, along with minorities (ethnic and religious) who have been brutalized by those savages and have them knock some sense into her.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)19 is old enough to understand her actions.
Who knows what she could be duped into doing and I'm glad such a stupid person is out of society for a while.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)WhoWoodaKnew
(847 posts)Rhinodawg
(2,219 posts)No one believes this story.
brooklynite
(93,873 posts)The first indication that something was wrong was a phone call from his daughter's Denver area school to let Assad Ibrahim know that she had not come to class.
He dialed her cell. And she answered. But, officials say, she didn't tell him that she was on her way to Syria to join ISIS.
...snip...
The American girl of Sudanese descent also kept quiet about her two girlfriends, Americans of Somali descent, who were flying with her to Turkey by way of Germany.
...snip...
German authorities intercepted the trio, ages 15, 16 and 17, at Frankfurt airport and put them on a plane back to the United States, where they were greeted by FBI agents.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/22/us/colorado-teens-syria-odyssey/
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Some self-styled "journalist" on twitter was screaming up and down how all the teenagers running off to join ISIS were set up, framed and trapped by the FBI....I asked him what about the European teenagers running off to join ISIS? (of which he demanded proof)...I posted five different stories about five different teens from five different countries, and he said the FBI planted those stories in the news...
I blocked his ass after that...
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)If not, then who are these no one's that don't believe this story?
JonLP24
(29,322 posts)but I feel it would be like criminally punishing the people that followed Jim Jones to Guyana (I know most of them are dead but the example fits with the point), ISIS or anyone else that are followers of the Salafri-Wahabbi ideology are religious cult followers and their leaders are cult leaders. In all likelihood, arresting her very likely saved her life but we could make a huge difference understanding & learning to help counter the propaganda which the US own actions aren't helpful but in fact spread the disease.
In no way do I defend her but destructive cults can also be very influential.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)her to ISIS territory.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)She would not get treated as well among ISIS. She'd just be a sex slave and a breeder.