Three sentenced in Virginia 'jihad' case
From Terry Frieden
CNN
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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- Three members of what government prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network" were sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to engaging in activity sympathetic to the Taliban after the September 11 attacks.
Two defendants, Khwaja Mahmood Hassan and Yong Ki Kwon, received prison sentences of 11 1/2 years each for travelling to Pakistan and seeking military training at a terrorist training camp.
Prosecutors said they intended to use the training to go to Afghanistan to fight U.S. forces seeking to dismantle the Taliban regime.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected a government argument for stiffer sentences for both men. The judge said that she disagreed that their effort to obtain training constituted providing military services, as the prosecution contended.
She said they were "absorbing resources, not providing them." She noted they gave no money or other materials to the cause.
A third defendant, Donald Surratt, received a sentence of nearly four years in prison in connection with firearms violations relating to the "jihad" conspiracy. Surratt did not travel to Pakistan.
The three defendants told Brinkema that they deeply regretted their actions and the pain they had caused their families.
Surratt remains free on bond until after the February trial of six others accused of being co-conspirators in the case. He is expected to testify and report to prison afterward.
