Muslim Convert Gets 10 Years for Terror Training

Surely, he'll spend his time behind bars behaving like a gentleman and will return to the streets a reformed man.

As if.

U.S. citizen gets 10 years for receiving terrorist training

A U.S. citizen convicted of receiving training at a terrorist camp alongside al-Qaida members in his efforts to help overthrow the Somali government was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, a Muslim convert also known as Daniel Aljughaifi and Abu Mohammed, also received a $1,000 fine.

Maldonado admitted to traveling in December to a terrorist camp in Somalia, where he was trained to use firearms and explosives in an effort to help a group called the Islamic Courts Union topple the government and install an Islamic state. Members of al-Qaida were present at the camp.

Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military while trying to flee Somalia in January and brought back to the United States in February.

Federal prosecutor Gary Cobe told reporters after the court hearing that the sentence was just.

"We're fighting a war against terrorism. We need to send a message that anyone who gets involved with terrorism will pay the price," he said.

Maldonado's defense attorney, Brent Newton, did not speak to reporters after the hearing.

But before the sentence was handed down, Newton said that while his client is not making excuses for what he did, he only went to Somalia and the Middle East to practice his Muslim faith in peace and not to join a terrorist group.

Sure, just happened to be wandering through Somalia. His mouthpiece apparently said this with a straight face.