Minnesota woman gets probation for supporting al-Shabab
A Minnesota woman who admitted sending $850 to the militant group al-Shabab in Somalia has been sentenced to five years' probation.
Forty-three-year-old Amina Mohamud Esse pleaded guilty in 2014 to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
She faced up to 15 years in prison, but prosecutors sought probation because she cooperated. That included testifying against two women in a Virginia case who each got more than a decade in prison for supporting al-Shabab.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kovats says it's the first time prosecutors recommended probation in Minnesota's terror cases. He says other Somali defendants who didn't cooperate got community support — but Esse has been ostracized for doing the right thing.
Esse told the judge she made a mistake and cooperated to correct it.
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