A federal appeals court has upheld a US Air Force veteran's conviction on terrorism charges for trying to join the Islamic State group and die a martyr.
But the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday said Tairod Pugh should be resentenced so a judge can explain why he gave him the maximum 35-year prison sentence.
Pugh, of Neptune, New Jersey, drew the first verdict of over 70 cases the US brought against Americans suspected of supporting the militant group.
He was convicted in 2016 after a Brooklyn federal court trial.
Prosecutors said Pugh sought a route into Syria to join the Islamic State group when he was stopped at a Turkish airport in 2015.
He was in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990.