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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Virginia woman pleads guilty in terror support case
February 2, 2015 - 4:37 PM
By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia woman pleaded guilty Monday to lying to
federal investigators about supporting the Islamic State militant group.
Heather Elizabeth Coffman, 29, faces up to eight years in prison when she is
sentenced May 11. She has been in jail since her arrest in November.
Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and leg shackles, the soft-spoken Coffman
offered brief answers to questions from Judge John A. Gibney but said
nothing else. Her parents watched from the front row of the galley and
declined to answer reporters' questions as they left the courthouse after
the 35-minute hearing.
An affidavit filed by an FBI agent said Coffman promoted the extremist
organization on several Facebook accounts she maintained under various names
. Those posts prompted a sting by the agent, who posed as an Islamic State
sympathizer.
The agent wrote that Coffman talked about making arrangements for a man she
identified as her husband to train and fight with the Islamic State in Syria
. Coffman said the man, who is not named in court papers, backed out when
the couple split up.
Coffman offered to use her contacts with the group to make similar
arrangements for the FBI agent and a fictitious friend, the affidavit said.
The agent told Coffman that his friend wanted to fight with the terrorist
group and become a "shaheed," or martyr.
After several meetings between the agent and Coffman, two other FBI agents
interviewed the woman at her workplace. She denied supporting any terrorist
groups, the affidavit said.
The undercover agent wrote that Coffman described her job and education as "
jihad for Allah's sake" on Facebook, and posted photos of the Islamic State
flag and men holding AK-47s. One Facebook friend asked why she posted such
pictures and she replied, "I love ISIS!"
According to the affidavit, she also said she got her sister interested in
the Islamic State and "my dad is a little angry because I got her into all
this jihad stuff." |
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