A New York City accountant who admitted to distributing funds and supplies to al-Qaeda was given an 18-year prison sentencing on Monday.
A Manhattan federal court judge ruled that 37-year-old Sabirhan Hasanoff was guilty of supporting al-Qaeda and conspiring with others, the Associated Press reported. Hasanoff, who has dual citizenship in both the United States and Australia, pleaded guilty last year to the crimes. He was ordered to hand over $70,000 as part of his punishment. He initially faced a maximum of 20 years after he entered into a plea deal with the government.
Prosecutors claimed that Hasanoff gave support to al-Qaeda between 2007 and 2010 - during that time, he bought goods for explosives while feeding basic information about the New York Stock Exchange to members of the terrorist group. He also frequently gave cash donations to people who he considered to be a part of al-Qaeda. The indictment stated that Hasanoff allegedly met with two men five years ago to talk about helping the terrorist network. One of the men reportedly gave Hasanoff $50,000 to transfer some funds and do other work for al-Qaeda. Hasanoff and some of his co-conspirators allegedly used code words when they talked online about fighting jihad and finding other al-Qaeda members nearby, the Associated Press reported. The word "safari" took the place of "jihad," and when they spoke of a friend being "hospitalized," that meant he'd been imprisoned.
Hasanoff wrote a letter to the judge detailing his anguish at the thought of leaving his life in America, where he lived in Brooklyn with his wife and three children. He worked as a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Manhattan.
"I made a good living and my family and I enjoyed a very comfortable lifestyle," he wrote in his letter. "And then, for reasons that I still have trouble confronting, I threw that all away. I completely renounce any view of Islam that says that violent jihad is in any way acceptable."
The judge said that it was imperative to keep other people from linking up with violent groups such as al-Qaeda.
