MINNEAPOLIS _ The second Minnesota Islamic State defendant to appear in court Tuesday morning received 10 years in prison after an emotional hearing marked by tears and confessional sentiments.
Hanad Musse, 21, who once described himself as "a servant of Allah," later pleaded guilty and had asked for 72 months in prison. Federal prosecutors had recommended 15 years. He was the fifth of nine defendants who will appear before U.S. Senior Judge Michael Davis this week as sentencing continues in the nation's largest ISIL recruiting prosecution.
As the hourlong hearing unfolded in a packed courtroom in Minneapolis, the judge asked Musse: "Sir, are you a terrorist or not?"
"Yes, I am a terrorist, your honor," Musse replied.
Addressing the judge in a soft voice and reading from a written statement, Musse said, "It's been a hard long year for many people." To his mother, who traveled from Kenya to support him, he added: "I love you and I made a mistake." Relatives in the courtroom began quietly sobbing.
"I lied to everyone, I tried to deceive everybody," Musse continued. "I undermined my parents' existence, I overlooked the position that they had in my life. My way of thinking would lead me to destruction. I was never entrapped nor lured into this crime."
Like other defendants, Musse listened as Davis pointed out the differences between their cases and other federal crimes, where a good educational record and job history typically predict a successful rehabilitation.
"What you've done is you turned us on our head," Davis said. "You used what we used for predictors of success to deceive us in order to do harm."
Musse's attorney, Andrew Birrell, told the judge that a maximum sentence after his client's guilty plea would send the wrong message toward the goals of deterrence and rehabilitation. "I do think, judge, I do think we can save this guy and I think that's what we need to do," Birrell said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Winter countered that Musse had tossed aside an opportunity to cooperate with the government and lied to a court expert, Daniel Koehler, during an interview weeks before three co-conspirators were going to stand trial.
"His mission was to protect his co-conspirators who were still pending trial," Winter said.
After Musse's hearing the court broke for lunch, and a third defendant, Adnan Farah, was up for sentencing Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier Tuesday, Hamza Ahmed was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his convictions on charges of supporting the terror group, which is also known as ISIL, and committing financial aid fraud to finance an attempted trip to Syria.
"I want you to understand I am not completely changed," Ahmed, 21, told Davis. "I'm in the process, but nobody changes overnight. I'm trying every day. I want to reach that point."
Davis told Ahmed he appreciated his frankness, then said: "There is an opening for you," displaying a small space with his fingers.
Ahmed was one of four defendants stopped by federal agents in 2014 after taking a Greyhound bus to New York in an attempt to fly to the Middle East. He pleaded guilty last April, just weeks before he was set for trial in Minneapolis.
Ahmed said he was thankful that federal agents removed him from the plane, recognizing it would have sent him eventually to his death.
"I refuse for this to be my legacy, I will come back, make a positive (difference) for my community, for people around me and I will be remembered."
Ahmed had asked for a reduced but unspecified sentence; prosecutors had asked for 15 years in prison.
His attorney, JaneAnne Murray, also made an impassioned plea for her client, saying he was not a leader, recruiter or organizer of the conspiracy. She described him as a "very dutiful son" in a large extended family, and said he became entranced by ISIL's internet messaging as he sought identity online while stuck at home looking after his younger siblings so his mother could work evenings at a bakery.
"It's a tragedy because he was a perfect mark for that powerful, voluminous propaganda by ISIL," Murray said.
The three men set for hearings Tuesday _ Ahmed, Adnan Farah and Hanad Musse _ pleaded guilty but did not assist the government in its case, and were expected to get stiffer sentences than those sentenced Monday, two of whom cooperated with the prosecution. The three who appeared Monday got sentences ranging from time served to 10 years in prison.
The sentences handed down by Davis this week are the first since he introduced the country's only terrorism disengagement and de-radicalization program earlier this year in an approach to find more information on handling young, would-be foreign fighters.
A yearlong FBI investigation of terror recruitment in Minnesota led to the convictions of nine young Somali-Minnesotans on charges of conspiracy to support the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant. Six pleaded guilty and three were convicted during a trial in Minneapolis last spring, which also included charges of conspiracy to commit murder abroad. Two more defendants were charged in absentia after successfully leaving for Syria.
The final three defendants will be sentenced Wednesday.
