Daesh recruiter sentenced to 4 years by US judge

Daesh recruiter “Umm Nutella” was yesterday sentenced to four years in prison by a US judge, Reuters has reported. The sentence was far lighter than the 30 to 50 years that federal prosecutors had asked for.

New Jersey-born Sinmyah Amera Caesar pleaded guilty in February 2017 to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. She confessed to connecting people with Daesh members through Facebook and other social media platforms using the code name “Umm Nutella”. In a 17 June sentencing memo, prosecutor Richard Donoghue called Caesar a “committed recruiter and self-described ‘assistant’” to Daesh.

Caesar had agreed to cooperate with the government at the time of her plea, but she double-crossed the federal prosecutors when she was free on bail between April and July 2018, contacting people she had previously identified as Daesh members and using her code name in her communications. In March this year she pleaded guilty to obstruction of official proceedings.

Defence attorneys called for a lenient sentence, citing Caesar’s troubled childhood of sexual abuse and being handed-off among foster families.

According to local media, District Judge Jack Weinstein said that sentencing guidelines were too harsh for this case. “It’s apparent that this young woman is in need of serious educational, medical, and economic support,” Weinstein explained. “This sentence will also save her as a human being.”

READ: Saudi forces say they have captured leader of Yemen branch of Daesh