Judge Denies Motion For 2 Convicted Of Trying To Join ISIS
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- A judge has ruled against a motion by two of the three men convicted on terror charges last month.
The attorneys for Guled Omar and Abdirahman Daud had asked judge Michael Davis to consider allowing them to be evaluated by Daniel Koehler, a German de-radicalization expert.
Daud and Omar pleaded not guilty to plotting to go to Syria to join ISIS, and were convicted by a jury in May, as was Mohammed Farah. They face a possible life prison sentence.
The expert's de-radicalization program was offered to six other defendants who earlier pleaded guilty to conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization.
On Tuesday, Davis said the issue was "moot" in Omar and Daud's cases because a de-radicalization expert had already worked with and had taught those working within Minnesota's federal probation and sentencing system.
Davis said court personnel have now been fully trained in Koehler's risk-assessment methods, so there's no need to hire Koehler to evaluate Daud and Omar for the presentence investigation.
Koehler has worked with neo-Nazis and other extremists.
