A US man who said he was “ready for jihad” before buying a one-way ticket overseas to join Daesh militants was sentenced to prison on Tuesday, Associated Press reported.
US citizen Leon Nathan Davis III, 38, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in May to seeking to aid a known terrorist organization.
Davis was arrested at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia last October trying to board a plane bound for Turkey. He later told investigators his plan was to be smuggled into Syria where he was to join Daesh as a recruiter and English teacher, AP reported.
Assistant US Attorney Carlton Bourne told AP a year prior to purchasing his plane ticket, Davis posted online: “One of my greatest desires is to kill Zionists and bring down Israel and the United States of America.”
During his sentencing, Davis said he had been “brainwashed” by online propaganda posted by extremist groups not long after he converted to Islam with serving time for cocaine trafficking a decade ago.
Despite being a convicted felon, Davis owned six rifles, four handguns, and two shotguns, AP reported.
