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.

American al-Qaeda Pleads Guilty

Recall the usual babble from a couple months back when this piece of garbage was arrested. Well, he pled guilty, is facing 10 years, and with any luck will never be heard from again.

Former Houston resident Daniel Joseph Maldonado pleaded guilty Thursday to participating in an al-Qaida training camp in East Africa, federal prosecutors said.

Maldonado, 28, was the first American charged in connection with an attempt to establish an extremist Islamic state in Somalia. He also used the name Daniel Aljughaifi, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Maldonado, who was charged with receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization, agreed to plead guilty to the government's criminal complaint in exchange for an agreement that prosecutors would not file any other charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez said.

Details of the agreement were not available because it is sealed. By accepting the deal, Maldonado avoids possible indictment by a grand jury considering the case.

Federal officials would not say whether Maldonado has provided information that will lead to other terrorism arrests. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 29, when he could be sent to prison for as long as 10 years and fined $250,000.

"For an American to travel overseas to train as a violent jihadist alongside al-Qaida elements who are focused upon threatening the security of our nation, is decidedly disturbing and definitely illegal," U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a prepared statement. "Maldonado's conviction should serve as a strong warning to any American who considers joining forces with terrorist groups here or abroad."

Maldonado, a Muslim convert and blogger under the names Daniel Aljughaifi and Abu Mohammed, came to Houston from Boston for a short time in 2005 to work for the Houston-based IslamicNetwork.com, a Web site frequented by terrorism suspects.

A few months later, he and his wife, Tamekia, moved to Egypt with their two children. His wife, who bore the couple's third child in Egypt, died overseas of malaria after the family moved to Somalia.

Also at Flying Imams.

Previously: American Trained With Al Qaeda in Somalia