ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) – A police officer convicted of trying to help the Islamic State group says his behavior was an “aberration” and does not reflect who he is.
In a letter filed in federal court in Virginia on Monday, 38-year-old Nicholas Young also says he never considered engaging in or supporting any terrorist act against the U.S.
Young, who was convicted in December, faces up to 60 years in prison at his sentencing Friday.
Prosecutors say Young bought gift cards he thought would be used by the Islamic State, but that the person he gave the cards to was part of an FBI sting operation.
The trial revealed that Young, who was a Washington, D.C.-area transit police officer when he was arrested in 2016, had been under federal surveillance since 2010.
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