SAN DIEGO (CN) - A 25-year-old San Diego woman was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to al-Shabaab, a terrorist organization.
Nima Yusuf pleaded guilty a year ago to conspiring with four men to support al-Shabaab, in Somalia, by sending $1,450 to them, and then lying about it to federal agents. She has been in jail since she was arrested in November 2010.
The four men-Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, Abdisalan Hussein Ali, Cabdulaahi Ahmed Faarax and Abdiweli Yassin-have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego said in a statement.
"According to court documents, Yusuf also tried to help Faraax recruit a local man to go and fight for al-Shabaab," the U.S. attorney said in the statement. "According to these documents, Yusuf understood and supported al-Shabaab's military efforts. When Faraax told Yusuf in an April 2010 phone call that al-Shabaab had completed a successful 'martyrdom operation' in which Burundian peacekeeping troops were killed, Yusuf responded, 'Oh my God! God is great! Wonderful! I swear to God, you told me something to be happy about.'"
The U.S. attorney added: "According to court documents, in a March 2010 phone call, Yusuf suggested that America was responsible for the 9/11 attacks and expressed hope for an even greater catastrophe in the future: 'Oh! It will be happening again. Trust me, more this time it will be double ... triple their deaths. (Laughter.)'"
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