Now that’s socking it to him!
A former Queens resident who admitted helping send waterproof socks, ponchos and sleeping bags to al Qaeda insurgents in Afghanistan got 15 years in the slammer yesterday.
Manhattan federal Judge Loretta Preska said she hoped the stiff sentence for Syed “Fahad” Hashmi serves as “serious deterrence” to any others tempted to become “sympathizers and facilitators” of the terror group while hiding “under the cloak” of American citizenship.
“He joined the organization’s global support network and did everything that was asked of him,” Preska said.
“Mr. Hashmi knew exactly what he was doing and where that equipment stored in his apartment was going.”
The 30-year-old Brooklyn College grad became the first person extradited from Great Britain to face terrorism charges in America after he was busted in 2006 while preparing to board a flight from London to Pakistan.
Authorities said the Pakistani native — who had been studying international relations at London Metropolitan University — let an al Qaeda operative stash the gear in his apartment, then gave him $300 to help bring it to a high-ranking terror leader in Pakistan.
The operative, Mohammed Junaid Babar, was later busted and became a government cooperator.
In a rambling, 20-minute statement riddled with references to Allah and the Koran, the heavily bearded Hashmi said: “Yes, I was wrong in helping my brothers the noble mujahedeen, but they will remain in my heart.”
He blamed his “many, many mistakes” on a misunderstanding of Islam, saying: “I did it when I was ignorant of Allah and his message.”