Coloradan In Terror Investigation Expected To Plead Guilty
ARVADA, Colo. (CBS4) – An Arvada woman charged with aiding a foreign terrorist organization is expected to plead guilty in court on Wednesday.
Shannon Conley, 19, is charged with conspiracy to provide support to ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. She was originally charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carried a maximum 15-year prison sentence. But the charge was lessened to "conspiracy" and carries a penalty of not more than 5 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.
Court documents claim Conley joined the Army Explorers to be trained in U.S. military tactics and firearms, and that she told the FBI she wanted to wage Jihad and to go overseas and fight.
She attended middle school in Loveland, then Arvada West High School before transferring to Ralston Valley then back to Arvada West.
Conley was first picked up on the FBI's radar at the Faith Bible Chapel in Arvada where she was wearing Islamic garb. She told investigators, "If they think I'm a terrorist, I'll give them something to think I am."
She also had a number of CDs and DVDs labeled "Anwar Al-Awlaki" that were recovered. Al-Awlaki was the Colorado educated terror suspect assassinated by a U.S. drone missile in Yemen.
According to a criminal complaint, Conley's parents told the FBI they failed to talk their daughter out of her plans. Conley was living with her parents in their Arvada home.
The FBI also tried repeatedly to talk her out of going but arrested her earlier this year at Denver International Airport with a ticket to Turkey.
Details of the agreement were not part of the court filing. Deals cannot be disclosed until a change of plea hearing, according to Dorschner.
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