Man apologizes, sentenced to 22 years for US terrorism plot

FILE - This undated file photo provided by Franklin County Sheriffís Office shows Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud. Mohamud, of Columbus, accused in April 2015 of receiving training on weapons, combat and tactics in Syria, and then returning to the U.S. with a plan to attack a military base or a prison. A federal judge on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, is scheduled to sentence the Ohio man who plotted to kill military members in the U.S. following a delay in the case when a previous judge withdrew. Mohamud, who was born in Somalia but came to the U.S. as a child, was arrested in 2015 and pleaded guilty to plotting those attacks after becoming radicalized in Syria. The attacks were never carried out. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriffís Office via AP, File)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who admitted receiving training in Syria to kill members of the U.S. military and then plotting to carry out an attack has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.

Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud (ab-dee-RAH'-mahn shayk moh-HAH'-mud) apologized to his family and to the U.S. in remarks in federal court in Columbus on Monday.

Court documents unsealed last year show the 26-year-old Mohamud pleaded guilty more than two years ago to terrorism charges.

Judge Michael Watson cited the seriousness of the allegations against Mohamud and the need to deter others considering similar actions.

Defense attorney Sam Shamansky asked for leniency, saying Mohamud was brainwashed while abroad and later abandoned his plot.

Mohamud said what he did was wrong and he fell into the trap of radicalization.

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