Friday, May 17, 2013
Two Minnesota women convicted of conspiring to send money to the
terrorist group al-Shabab in Somalia have been sentenced in federal
court.
Hawo Mohamed Hassan was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in
prison on one terror-related count and two counts of lying to the FBI.
Earlier Thursday, her co-defendant Amina Farah Ali was sentenced to 20
years on 13 terrorism-related counts.
Authorities say the women went door-to-door raising money in the name
of charity, but routed the funds to al-Shabab. Their attorneys say the
women are humanitarians who gave money to orphans, as well as to a group
working to push foreign troops out of Somalia.
They are among
nine people sentenced this week in the long-running federal
investigations into terrorism recruiting and financing for al-Shabab.