Colorado woman accused of jihadist ties is expected to plead guilty

Reporting from Littleton, Colo. —  The young suburban Denver woman arrested as she tried to board a plane in the hope of joining the Islamic State militant group in Syria is scheduled to plead guilty Wednesday to a federal conspiracy charge.

Shannon Maureen Conley, 19, of Arvada, Colo., has been in custody without bail at an undisclosed Denver-area facility since her April 8 arrest at Denver International Airport. Federal agents moved in after authorities were tipped off by the woman’s parents, who had become increasingly worried about her growing radicalization.

Conley faces a charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a penalty of not more than five years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine. She is expected to enter a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore in Denver’s federal courthouse, according to a statement Tuesday from the U.S attorney’s office in Denver.

The young woman, who converted to Islam about two years ago and whom her former principal described as once one of the brightest students at Arvada West High School, told her parents she had met a 32-year-old Tunisian man through the Internet who promised marriage. She said she planned to join him and other Islamic militants in Syria in what she considered a holy war against nonbelievers.

Last week Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said more than 100 Americans are believed to be fighting with the brutal Islamic State militants in Syria. The British news media has reported that at least 500 British Muslims have joined Islamic State, and 10 days ago a 16-year-old girl was arrested at an airport in Nice, France, as she tried to board a plane for Turkey with an ultimate destination of Syria. That girl -- like in the Conley case -- had her plane ticket paid for by an older man who is believed to have recruited her through the Internet.

Conley first came to the attention of authorities in fall 2013 when she began showing up alone at Faith Bible Chapel, a Christian mega-church known for its support of Israel not far from the middle-class neighborhood where she lived with her parents.

Dressed in traditional Muslim attire, she would wander into church classes and worship services and told church leaders she was doing “research,” Pastor George Morrison told the Los Angeles Times in July. He said church officials later asked her not to return.

According to court documents, federal authorities interviewed her eight times between November 2013 and April -- first to determine whether she was dangerous and then, as she disclosed her plans, to try to talk her out of them. Authorities also spoke with her parents, John and Ana Marie Conley, who said they initially had no idea their daughter had become so extreme in her beliefs.

John Conley called authorities after finding a one-way plane ticket in his daughter’s name to a Turkish town a few hours from the Syrian border. The ticket was apparently been paid for by her Internet suitor, documents said.

Shannon Conley told federal agents she would “rather be in prison than do nothing,” according to court documents.

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