American who sent $67K to al-Qaeda gets 15 years in prison
A New Yorker who sent $67,000 to al-Qaeda and pledged his support to the terror group has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Federal Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan sentenced Brooklyn-born Wesam El-Hanafi Tuesday. The sentence was less than the 20-year maximum term prosecutors had sought and three years less than his co-defendant received.
El-Hanafi pleaded guilty in June 2012, two years after he was brought to the United States from Dubai. Prosecutors say El-Hanafi pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda and sought to teach the group how to evade detection on the Internet. He went to Yemen in 2008 and met with al-Qaeda representatives.
