A suburban Chicago man accused of trying to fly overseas with his two younger siblings to join Islamic State was sentenced Friday to five years in prison in a deal with prosecutors.
Mohammed Hamzah Khan, who has been in custody for more than two years, would get credit for time served and could be released as soon as next fall.
Khan, 21, of Bolingbrook, pleaded guilty last November to a felony count of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
He faced up to 15 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors agreed to the five-year prison term if he continued to cooperate with law enforcement.
After his release from prison, Khan would remain under court supervision for at least 20 years, an unusually long time, according to his plea agreement. Khan also must seek "psychological and violent extremism counseling," perform at least 120 hours of community service each year, and allow court personnel to search his cellphone, email and computer four times a month for the first 7 { years.
When Khan pleaded guilty last year, prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge John Tharp for a delay in sentencing so the value of his assistance could be assessed.
Khan was arrested in October 2014 after he and two younger siblings passed through security at O'Hare International Airport and were walking to their departure gate to board a jet to Vienna with a connection to Istanbul, prosecutors said . His sister, then 17, and 16-year-old brother were questioned at the airport by the FBI but were not charged.
According to his plea agreement, Khan and his sister had been talking online with Islamic State members in Syria who offered to help them get to the Middle East to join the terrorist organization. Khan admitted planning to travel to Turkey, so the contact could guide him and his siblings across the border.
To pay for the trip, Khan got a job as a stock clerk at a home-improvement store in July 2014. By September, he had saved enough to buy round-trip tickets for himself and his siblings at a cost of $2,679, according to his plea agreement.
Khan told agents he expected his position with Islamic State to be "some type of public service, a police force, humanitarian work or a combat role," according to the charges. Notes left by the siblings for their parents _ who were not aware of the plot _ begged them not to tell police, authorities said.
Khan's family is from India but has lived in the Chicago suburbs for many years, according to Khan's lawyer, Thomas Anthony Durkin. Khan was born in the U.S., graduated from high school and attended one year at Benedictine University in Lisle. He has no previous criminal history.
Khan's arrest came as U.S. national security and counterterrorism officials were voicing growing concerns over radicalized Americans traveling overseas to join Islamic State.
After Khan's arraignment in early 2015, his mother, Zarine Khan, delivered a tearful but stern message accusing Islamic State recruiters of "the brainwashing and recruiting of children through the use of social media and the Internet.
"Leave our children alone!" she said.
