AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 25 (UPI) — A Texas man who hoped to help international terrorists in their jihad against the West was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Friday, and then an additional 10 years of supervision.
Rahatul Ashikim Khan, 24, was given the punishment in an Austin courtroom Friday for attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists.
Investigators said Khan struck up a conversation online with an undercover FBI agent posing as an extremist and attempted to insert him into “an al-Shabaab pipeline” for the purposes of violent jihadist travel to the Middle East.
“Khan also led a group of individuals in the Austin area who pledged loyalty to the now-deceased Taliban and terrorist leader, Mullah Omar,” the FBI said in a statement Friday.
Khan was given 120 months in prison Friday, which will be followed by another decade of supervised release.
Khan’s activities were discovered by an anti-terrorism task force, who said the plotting took place between March 2011 and January 2012.
“Rahatul Khan conspired to provide material support to terrorists by screening and recruiting potential foreign fighters located in the United States to wage violent jihad in various locations overseas, including Somalia,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Carlin said. “The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism and we will continue to pursue justice against those who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.”
Several others who conspired with Khan have also been sent to prison.
“This happened years ago. He was 19 years old,” defense attorney Joe Turner said Friday. “And it’s a shame.”
Numerous law enforcement agencies were part of the task force — including the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Army Intelligence, Austin police, University of Texas police, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Office of the Texas Attorney General, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, and multiple local agencies.
