Hamza Ahmed, 21, who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to support Islamic State, says he is ‘not completely changed’ but is trying

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A Somali American man in Minnesota was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday for conspiring to support the Islamic State militant group, according to local media.

Michael Davis, a senior US district judge, sentenced Hamza Ahmed, 21, at a Minnesota courthouse, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.

In November 2014, Ahmed was pulled off a plane traveling from New York to Turkey, which people who have fought for Isis have used as a gateway to Syria.

The militant group holds territory in Iraq and Syria and has sympathizers and recruits around the world who have carried out shootings and bombings of civilians.

Three Somali Americans who plotted to join Isis in Syria convicted Read more

Ahmed was indicted in February 2015 on charges of conspiring to support Isis and lying to federal agents investigating recruitment by militant groups, according to prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty in April, according to the Star Tribune.

“I want you to understand I am not completely changed,” the newspaper quoted Ahmed as saying in court on Tuesday. “I’m in the process, but nobody changes overnight. I’m trying every day.”

Ahmed is part of a larger group of nine Somali American men who are being sentenced in Minnesota this week for conspiring to support Isis.

On Monday, three men were handed sentences ranging from time served to 10 years in prison.

The Minneapolis area is home to a large population of Somali expatriates. US authorities have said dozens of young Somali Americans have left the area since 2007 to join al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate based in Somalia.

In 2014, FBI officials said they had begun tracking a trickle of Somali Americans from the Minneapolis area to Syria in general and to Islamic State-held areas in particular.