Both sides agree the Pennsylvania woman was lonely and isolated and endured harsh abuse throughout her life.
View full sizeColleen "Jihad Jane" LaRose was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her part in a plot. A Pennsylvania woman involved in a deadly terror plot has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Fifty-year-old Colleen LaRose had faced a potential life term. But U.S. District Court Judge Petrese Tucker in Philadelphia accepted a government request to reduce the sentence, because of Larose's extensive cooperation with investigators.Prosecutors still asked for decades in prison, fearing she remains dangerous.
LaRose, of Pennsburg, Pa., called herself “Jihad Jane” online and agreed to kill a Swedish artist who had offended Muslims. She pleaded guilty Feb. 1, 2011.
Both sides agree she was lonely and isolated and endured harsh abuse throughout her life. But they disagree on how great a threat she was.
“This case clearly underscores the evolving nature of the terrorist threat we now face in this country,” United States Attorney Zane David Memeger said in a news release. “The Internet has made it easier for those who want to attack the American way of life to identify like-minded individuals to carry out their terroristic plans. While today's significant sentence will help protect the community from any future threat posed by the defendant, we as a nation must remain vigilant in identifying and stopping others who are susceptible to engaging in acts of homegrown violent extremism.”
Larose told the judge she became obsessed with jihad, saying she was “in a trance” and thought about it from morning to night.
“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those attracted to a terrorist ideology,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko said in the same release. “Our Joint Terrorism Task Forces and partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities remain committed to tracking terrorists at every level, whomever and wherever they are.”
Larose already has spent four years behind bars.