NEW
YORK (AP) — A successful accountant who admitted supporting al-Qaeda
with money and supplies was sentenced to 18 years in prison Monday by a
judge who said it was necessary to deter others from developing similar
violent aspirations.
Sabirhan Hasanoff, 37, a citizen of the U.S.
and Australia, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court, where he
pleaded guilty last year to supporting al-Qaeda and conspiring with
others. He was also ordered to forfeit $70,000.
The sentence was
two years less than the maximum he faced after striking a plea deal with
the government, though it was five years longer than what Probation
Department officers recommended.
Prosecutors said Hasanoff
provided extensive support to al-Qaeda from 2007 to 2010, including by
purchasing an advanced remote control for explosives attacks and by
reporting rudimentary information about the New York Stock Exchange.
They said he also made regular cash donations to people he thought were
affiliated with al-Qaeda.
The judge said the "most important
factor" in deciding how much time Hasanoff must serve was the need to
deter others from similar conduct.
In a letter to the judge,
Hasanoff expressed regret for abandoning his life in America, where he
lived in Brooklyn with his wife and three children after graduating from
Baruch College in Manhattan and obtaining a job as a senior manager at
PricewaterhouseCoopers.
He was working as the chief financial
officer for a large company based in Dubai when he was arrested there in
2010 and brought to the United States to face charges.
"I made a
good living and my family and I enjoyed a very comfortable lifestyle,"
he wrote. "And then, for reasons that I still have trouble confronting, I
threw that all away."
Inspired by radical clerics, he said his
desire to strengthen his Muslim faith and fight atrocities committed
against Muslims around the world mixed with guilt about his comfortable
life.
"I completely renounce any view of Islam that says that violent jihad is in any way acceptable," he said.
Hasanoff told the judge Monday: "I'm very sorry for my conduct. I should have known better, and I don't have any excuses."
An
indictment alleged that Hasanoff and met with two men in 2008 to
discuss aiding al-Qaeda. It said one of the men paid Hasanoff $50,000 to
transfer money and do other tasks for the terrorist network.
The
government said Hasanoff and his co-defendant used code words in
Internet chats in 2009 about fighting jihad and finding other al-Qaeda
contacts. In their coded language, "safari" was used in place of "jihad"
and saying a friend was "hospitalized" meant that he was in prison.
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