Man who aided terrorists gets sentence cut in half

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — A 26-year-old man who once bragged about plotting terror attacks in the San Francisco Bay Area will likely leave prison within months after a federal judge on Wednesday cut his sentence by more than half.

Amer Alhaggagi, an Oakland man of Yemeni descent, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2018 after pleading guilty to providing material support to terrorists, based on him opening social media accounts for the Islamic State group, and three identity theft charges.

In conversations with an undercover FBI agent and informant, Alhaggagi boasted of plans to bomb LGBT nightclubs, start fires in the Berkeley hills and dole out poison-laced cocaine, among other outrageous and alarming schemes.

Alhaggagi’s lawyers say their client was simply a naïve young man who spun tall tales in online chat rooms to make himself look tough and said outlandish things about plotting terror attacks to shock people with no intention of following through. Federal prosecutors insist the young man continues to pose a danger to the community.

In 2018, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer applied a terrorism enhancement that lengthened Alhaggagi’s prison term to 15 years. At the time, Breyer said the young man’s words were “very dangerous” and that “words matter.”

Two years later, a divided Ninth Circuit panel overturned that decision, finding Breyer failed to establish Alahaggagi intended to influence or retaliate against a government — prerequisites for applying a terrorism enhancement that can more than double a defendant’s prison term.

On Wednesday, Breyer said that while he agreed with the government’s position that the enhancement should apply, he must respect the Ninth Circuit’s authority and abide by its decision.

“I don’t actually disagree with the government,” Breyer said. “I think it would be disingenuous to say I disagree with the government, but the court of appeal disagreed with me.”

Federal prosecutors asked Breyer to reimpose a sentence of more than 15 years, arguing the enhancement still applies because Alhaggagi aimed to retaliate against the U.S. government. Breyer said the government failed to offer new evidence to support that assertion.

Alhaggagi’s lawyer Mary McNamara insisted her client was never a jihadist or devout Muslim, and that his actions mostly stemmed from an aimless youth when he started going down a rabbit hole of internet chat groups to alleviate his boredom as a 21-year-old unemployed marijuana user.

She described how her client has tried to turn his life around in prison, taking classes and earning a paralegal certificate while being held in mostly solitary conditions for two years as he tried to avoid other inmates at a federal prison in Atwater, California, that she said is notorious for gang-related violence.

“It’s been an extraordinarily difficult sentence where he’s had to grow up fast and essentially not get killed,” McNamara said.

Breyer said he felt obligated to consider new evidence of Alhaggagi’s conduct during his time behind bars over the last three years.

“I think your conduct in prison under really very stringent and harsh circumstances has reflected the fact that your underlying conduct that brought you here was truly reprehensible,” Breyer said.

A probation officer who interviewed Alhaggagi stated that the prisoner was "an immature young man who bragged online about being a dangerous terrorist to impress the gullible young men communicating with him” and that Alhaggagi has since gained “insight and understanding of his own behavior."

Alhaggagi's lawyers asked Breyer to impose the probation office's recommended sentence of five years and 10 months.

When given a chance to address the court, Alhaggagi said he can’t forgive himself for the pain and suffering he caused his family and that he hopes to make amends one day.

“I look back at my actions with disdain,” he said. “I’ve been doing everything I possibly can under the circumstances to progress and develop myself into a better human being.”

Taking into account Alhaggagi’s conduct in prison, Breyer said he would impose a sentence of six years and nine months. With time served and good behavior credits, Alhaggagi is expected to complete his prison term within seven to eight months.

Breyer recommended that the Federal Bureau of Prisons place Alhaggagi in a halfway house to transition him back into the community.

“I’d also recommend the Bureau of Prisons take a look at how they operate the circumstances of confinement in these cases,” Breyer said. “I think the description of the type of confinement is deeply troubling.”

After the hearing, Alhaggagi’s lawyer said by email that she appreciated the judge’s thoughtful ruling and how he properly applied the law and interpreted the facts.

“He correctly found that the terrorism enhancement does not apply in this case and that although Mr. Alhaggagi’s words were reckless, he is not radicalized,” McNamara said. “Judge Breyer also recognized that in the time since the last sentencing hearing, Mr. Alhaggagi has demonstrated that he has matured and learned from his mistakes.”

U.S. Justice Department spokesman Abraham Simmons did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Follow @NicholasIovino

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