An American-born jihadist who plotted to kill US soldiers overseas was sentenced to 27 years in prison yesterday by a judge who blasted the terrorist-wannabe as a traitor.
“You grew up in Brooklyn and you decided to murder your own country’s soldiers,” federal Judge John Gleeson said in a scathing rebuke as he sentenced Betim Kaziu, 24. “You devoted your life to the cause of destroying this country and all it stands for.”
Gleeson was unfazed by Kaziu’s 11th-hour apology for planning to join a mujahedeen group in southwest Asia, saying the half-hearted ploy for mercy still projected “an element of defiance.”
“You admired Osama bin Laden,” the judge said.
Kaziu was convicted last summer of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to use a firearm.
Kaziu attempted to link up with al Qaeda groups in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans — but was arrested before he could make a trip to Pakistan.
Authorities called it a classic case of “homegrown terror” — centering on a disenchanted American adolescent who gravitated toward radical jihadist philosophies he learned on the Internet.
Kaziu and his friend, Sulejmah Hadzovic, were two young New Yorkers both born in the United States who grew up in immigrant families from the former Yugoslavia.
After dropping out of high school, they embraced radical entreaties to take arms against America while watching al Qaeda videos on the Web.
Assistant US Attorney Shreve Ariail said Kaziu went to Cairo, Egypt and tried to join terrorist groups.
“He headed off the cliff, to go onto the battlefield and kill American servicemen,” Ariail said.
Hadzovic had a change of heart and became a witness against Kaziu — who finally apologized for his actions yesterday.
“I wish I never went down this path,” he said. “I completely regret what I did in that phase of my life.”