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 Khalid, now 20, is the youngest person ever charged with
terrorism-related crimes in the United States. He was arrested in
2011 on charges including providing material support for terrorists
for working with a U.S. woman who went by the nickname "Jihad Jane"
and had plotted to kill a Swedish artist.
The woman, a suburban Philadelphia housewife whose real name is
Colleen LaRose, in January was sentenced to 10 years in prison for
planning to murder artist Lars Vilks, who had depicted the head of
the Muslim Prophet Mohammad on a dog.
Khalid, who pleaded guilty to committing related crimes when he was
as young as 15 and living in his parents' apartment in suburban
Maryland, could have faced up to 15 years in prison but prosecutors
have asked for a shorter sentence because he cooperated after his
arrest.
He is due in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Khalid's attorney Jeffrey Lindy has said his client was easily lured
into committing crimes by LaRose, a much older woman.
The link between LaRose and Khalid, and his double life as honor
student and online jihadist, were chronicled in a 2011 Reuters
investigative series. (Reuters series:
http://reut.rs/1eqk6sJ)
LaRose admitted to following orders in 2009 from alleged al Qaeda
operatives. She traveled to Ireland that fall to meet an Algerian,
Ali Damache, whom she believed would train her.
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The plot did not materialize and Damache is fighting extradition
from Ireland to the United States on terror charges. In court
filings, prosecutors said Khalid helped Damache recruit others and
helped LaRose destroy evidence.
Officials said Khalid "worked tirelessly" with two other American
men now serving long prison terms on terror charges in other failed
plots, Emerson Begolly and Reed Stanley Berry. Prosecutors say he
helped them translate violent jihad videos from Urdu to English.
Prosecutors also cited online postings in which Khalid tried to
raise money for terrorists, but there is no public evidence that
anyone ever sent him any money.
(Editing by Scott Malone and Lisa Shumaker)
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