US District Judge Ursula Ungaro imposed the maximum possible sentence today on 27-year-old Mohamed Said. He admitted in May that he conspired to support to Africa's violent al-Shabaab organization and al-Qaida affiliates in Syria and elsewhere.
Said's attorney had sought a more lenient eight-year sentence because Said never plotted directly against the US But Ungaro said terrorist groups he supported have an avowed intent to attack the US.
Said and co-defendant Gufran Mohammed were arrested in 2013 in Saudi Arabia in a case that evolved from FBI monitoring of Internet chat rooms frequented by Islamic extremists. Mohammed is already serving a 15-year prison sentence.