Three men face the possibility of life in prison Friday for joining a North Carolina terrorism ring that federal agents say plotted attacks on the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico and foreign targets.
Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, Ziyad Yaghi and Hysen Sherifi were convicted after a month-long trial that started around the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Judge Louise Flanagan said her court has received many letters from people who wanted to be heard before sentencing in support of one or all of the men. Their convictions have stirred the Muslim community in the Raleigh area where they lived.
Hassan, Yaghi and Sherifi were among eight men who investigators say raised money, stockpiled weapons and trained in preparation for jihadist attacks against those they deemed enemies of Islam.
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