A 20-year-old Maryland man was sentenced to five years in prison for terrorism charges on Thursday, Philly.com reported.
Mohammad Hassan Khalid, a Pakistani citizen and legal U.S. resident, was 17-years-old and preparing to study at Johns Hopkins University when he was indicted indicted for providing material support to terrorists overseas.
Khalid is the youngest person ever to be convicted of terrorism charges in the U.S., Philly.com said. As U.S. District Chief Judge Petrese Tucker decided a proper sentence, she took his cooperation with the government and young age into consideration.
"I stand before your honor humiliated," Hassan told Tucker. "Nothing I say today can excuse the mistakes of my past."
He also asked his family for forgiveness as they cried in the courtroom, according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
Khalid will get credit for the three years he has already served in prison since his arrest in July 2011. Because he is not a U.S. citizen, he is likely to face deportation once his sentence ends.
"What Mohammad did, bad as it was, was not this international jihad the government keeps talking about," defense attorney Jeffrey Lindy told the judge.
Khalid's co-defendant, Colleen LaRose -- who gave herself the nickname "Jihad Jane" -- pleaded guilty in February 2011 to plotting to kill Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog.
Khalid met LaRose in an online jihad chatroom, where they began conspiring.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams argued that the defense "grossly" oversimplified Khalid's capabilities.
"The world of violent jihad relies on finding new recruits, relies on finding young recruits, Westerners," Williams said. "They need people like Mr. Khalid to make the doctrine accessible, especially to people in the West."
