Shannon Maureen Conley, a 19-year-old Colorado woman, pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday to conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State militants who have seized large parts of Syria and Iraq, according to The Associated Press.
Conley has been in custody since her arrest in April for allegedly planning to travel overseas and join the Sunni Muslim militant group, the AP reported.
Federal prosecutors charged the suburban Denver teenager with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to Islamic State, designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization, according to the AP.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Conley, a convert to Islam, corresponded online with a purported Islamist fighter from Tunisia, the AP reported.
Asked by U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore whether she understood that she was forfeiting certain rights by pleading guilty, she answered in a strong voice that she did, according to the AP. She replied "yes" when he asked her if she was guilty as charged.
Conley, who is a certified nurse's aide, attended a camp run by the U.S. Army Explorers, a youth career exploration program, in Texas last year and planned to use that training to fight overseas and also to teach the Islamist rebels U.S. military tactics, the affidavit said, the AP reported.
Agents with a federal terrorism task force interviewed Conley several times to try to dissuade her, but she insisted that she wanted to travel overseas and wage war against infidels, the arrest affidavit said, according to the AP. She was arrested at Denver International Airport as she prepared to board a flight to Germany.
In return for her plea, prosecutors recommended a lesser sentence provided she cooperates on any possible investigations into "terrorist organizations," court documents showed, the AP reported.
Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, is an al Qaeda offshoot that has been the target of U.S. air strikes and has been internationally condemned for its atrocities including the beheadings of U.S. journalists Steven Sotloff and James Foley, the AP reported.
