An American-born jihadist who hoped to kill US soldiers overseas was today sentenced to 27 years in prison, by a judge who called the wannabe terrorist a traitor.
“You grew up in Brooklyn and you decided to murder your own country’s soldiers. You devoted your life to the cause of destroying this country and all it stands for,” Federal Judge John Gleeson said in a scathing rebuke as he sentenced Betim Kaziu, 24.
Gleeson was unfazed by Kaziu’s eleventh-hour apology for planning to join a mujaheddin 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, attempt to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and conspiracy to use a firearm.
Kaziu tried to join 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 in rebellion towards messages of violent holy war, hatred of the West, and radical jihadist philosophies espoused from afar over the Internet.
Kaziu and his friend, Sulejmah Hadzovic, were two young New Yorkers both born in the US who grew up in immigrant families from the former Yugoslavia.
They forged a friendship in seventh-grade over video games and TV, but lost interest in high school and dropped out — embracing radical entreaties to take arms against America while watching al Qaeda videos on the web.
Assistant US Attorney Shreve Ariail said Kaziu traveled to Cairo 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, renounced jihadism, and eventually became a witness against Kaziu after his former pal was arrested by the FBI.
Today for the first time in public, Kaziu apologized for his actions — saying he never should have allowed himself “to be influenced” by others.
“I wish I never went down this path. I completely regret what I did in that phase of my life,” Kaziu said.