US citizen who fought for ISIS in Syria sentenced to 10 years in prison

A naturalized U S citizen who pleaded guilty to receiving military training from the Islamic State in Syria was sentenced on Monday to years in federal prison Lirim Sylejmani who was born in Kosovo and moved to Chicago about years ago engaged in at least one battle against U S -led coalition forces after he entered Syria a decade ago according to prosecutors U S District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington D C handed down Sylejmani's prison sentence which will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release Sylejmani pleaded guilty in December to one count of receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization FEDERAL JUDGE ISSUES M VERDICT AGAINST SYRIA FOR TORTURE OF US CITIZEN TAKEN CAPTIVE IN This defendant will spend a decade in prison thinking about the betrayal to this country wrote the interim U S attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro also a former Fox News host Anyone thinking that ISIS is the answer to their questions best think again she continued We will go to any lengths to root out subversive individuals who want to overthrow the authorities and harm its citizens In November Sylejmani and his family flew to Turkey before transiting the boundary into Syria where he received training with other ISIS recruits until February when he was captured with his family by Syrian forces in Baghouz Syria according to prosecutors SYRIA GRANTED SANCTIONS WAIVER BY TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO ENCOURAGE REBUILDINGHis military training included instruction on how to assemble and fire an AK- rifle as well as how to use a PK Machine gun M- rifle and grenades Sylejmani was also once injured in a battle with Syrian forces in June Prosecutors explained Sylejmani who adopted the name Abu Sulayman al-Kosovi pledged bayat or allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and to the ISIS organization in front of an Iraqi ISIS member He was transferred to the U S in September to face criminal charges in Washington D C The conduct is far more than a single impulsive act He chose to jeopardize the safety of his family by bringing them to a war-torn country to join and take up arms for ISIS prosecutors wrote Sylejmani's attorneys claim he is not a committed jihadist and does not espouse violence He is guilt-ridden for his actions and the harm he has visited on his family who remain detained in a refugee camp in Syria living under terrible conditions his lawyers wrote He wishes only to complete his time and find his wife and children so he can live an average law-abiding life with them