Judge Won't Release Arvada Teen In Terror Case
DENVER (AP) - A 19-year-old suburban Denver woman who pleaded guilty to trying to help the Islamic State militant group will remain in jail before her sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore on Wednesday denied Shannon Conley's request to be freed on bond until she is sentenced in January. Moore says Conley failed to adequately prove she would not pose a danger to the community if she were allowed to live with her parents as she had requested.
Conley pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. FBI agents say Conley wanted to marry a suitor she met online who said he was fighting with the extremists. They say she repeatedly told them she wanted to fight alongside him or use her nurse's aide skills to help. They arrested her in April while she was boarding a flight that she hoped would ultimately get her to Syria.
Her attorney, Robert Pepin, said the Muslim covert was misled while exploring her faith. In seeking her release, he said she no longer wants to go to Syria, noting that authorities have confiscated her passport. Pepin argued Conley would remain cooperative with law enforcement if granted bond.
But Moore noted in his order that while Conley was cooperative in meeting with authorities during their investigation, she remained insistent on helping the terrorist group.