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Miles Archer

(18,837 posts)
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 12:45 AM Jan 2015

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

33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Denver Woman Who Tried to Help ISIS Sentenced to Four Years (Original Post) Miles Archer Jan 2015 OP
Teabaggers come in many different colors. Hulk Jan 2015 #1
Why the hell would any woman want to help ISIS? NaturalHigh Jan 2015 #2
...and how many pro-life fundamentalist Christian women are there? brooklynite Jan 2015 #13
Even Ted Bundy had his groupies. nt msanthrope Jan 2015 #23
Gullible, and ISIS feeds this "Islamic utopia" bullshit to any sucker who listens... Blue_Tires Jan 2015 #25
Pretty sad. earthside Jan 2015 #3
Not sure how I feel about this. blackspade Jan 2015 #4
I have mixed feelings as well davidpdx Jan 2015 #5
Do you have a link with details? [n/t] Maedhros Jan 2015 #26
It was more than a thought crime, branford Jan 2015 #9
Did she commit a violent act? blackspade Jan 2015 #15
Do you oppose all conspiracy and related crimes? branford Jan 2015 #16
No. blackspade Jan 2015 #32
So if someone stalks their ex wife, calculates all her routes, plans when and where to grab her snooper2 Jan 2015 #21
And that has what to do with this case? blackspade Jan 2015 #30
If I hire a hitman to kill you..technically, I haven't done a violent act. msanthrope Jan 2015 #24
You will have commissioned a violent act. blackspade Jan 2015 #31
She bought the airline tickets and was arrested at the airport just before boarding riderinthestorm Jan 2015 #33
Go plot to murder someone Blue_Tires Jan 2015 #28
Was she given psychiatric tests? JDPriestly Jan 2015 #6
Judge said she is a bit of a mess- snooper2 Jan 2015 #22
Sounds like a romance scam to me. Maedhros Jan 2015 #27
I loathe women like her eissa Jan 2015 #7
I'm with you on this FLPanhandle Jan 2015 #8
+ 10000 nt riderinthestorm Jan 2015 #11
Preach it!!! WhoWoodaKnew Jan 2015 #12
Obviously she's been railroaded. Rhinodawg Jan 2015 #10
Right...NO woman would try to join ISIS..... brooklynite Jan 2015 #14
Forget it...Folks believe what they want to believe Blue_Tires Jan 2015 #29
Did you forget this? GGJohn Jan 2015 #19
I understand why they couldn't tolerate this JonLP24 Jan 2015 #17
Commute her sentence, revoke her citizenship, and deport geek tragedy Jan 2015 #18
The numbskull is lucky to be in custody. Quantess Jan 2015 #20
 

Hulk

(6,699 posts)
1. Teabaggers come in many different colors.
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 12:56 AM
Jan 2015

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)
2. Why the hell would any woman want to help ISIS?
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 01:00 AM
Jan 2015

It's not like they are known for their progressive attitudes toward women.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
25. Gullible, and ISIS feeds this "Islamic utopia" bullshit to any sucker who listens...
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 06:02 PM
Jan 2015

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)
3. Pretty sad.
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 01:47 AM
Jan 2015

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)
4. Not sure how I feel about this.
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 01:56 AM
Jan 2015

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)
5. I have mixed feelings as well
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 03:19 AM
Jan 2015

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.

 

branford

(4,462 posts)
9. It was more than a thought crime,
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 03:35 PM
Jan 2015

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)
15. Did she commit a violent act?
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 08:23 PM
Jan 2015

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)
16. Do you oppose all conspiracy and related crimes?
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 08:48 PM
Jan 2015

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.

 

snooper2

(30,151 posts)
21. So if someone stalks their ex wife, calculates all her routes, plans when and where to grab her
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 11:05 AM
Jan 2015

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.


 

msanthrope

(37,549 posts)
24. If I hire a hitman to kill you..technically, I haven't done a violent act.
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 12:23 PM
Jan 2015

But I have set one in motion.

 

riderinthestorm

(23,272 posts)
33. She bought the airline tickets and was arrested at the airport just before boarding
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 10:06 PM
Jan 2015

She was imminently about to execute her plan.

Sorry but this was way beyond just thinking about it...

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
28. Go plot to murder someone
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 06:19 PM
Jan 2015

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)
6. Was she given psychiatric tests?
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 03:45 AM
Jan 2015

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)
22. Judge said she is a bit of a mess-
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 11:08 AM
Jan 2015


"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)
27. Sounds like a romance scam to me.
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 06:17 PM
Jan 2015

Chances are her "suitor" was not an ISIS militant but probably a fraud artist.

eissa

(4,238 posts)
7. I loathe women like her
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 02:45 PM
Jan 2015

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)
8. I'm with you on this
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 03:13 PM
Jan 2015

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.

brooklynite

(93,873 posts)
14. Right...NO woman would try to join ISIS.....
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 07:51 PM
Jan 2015
Officials: 3 Denver girls played hooky from school and tried to join ISIS

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)
29. Forget it...Folks believe what they want to believe
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 06:24 PM
Jan 2015

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...

JonLP24

(29,322 posts)
17. I understand why they couldn't tolerate this
Sat Jan 24, 2015, 10:08 PM
Jan 2015

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.

Quantess

(27,630 posts)
20. The numbskull is lucky to be in custody.
Mon Jan 26, 2015, 02:53 AM
Jan 2015

She would not get treated as well among ISIS. She'd just be a sex slave and a breeder.

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