Pak national gets 15 years in US jail for conspiring to aid Taliban

Washington, Oct 23 (ANI): A Pakistani national has been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in the United States for conspiring to aid the Taliban, and illegally possessing firearms, a Justice Department statement said.

33-year-old Adnan Mirza, who had entered the US on a student visa to attend a local community college in 2005 and 2006, was convicted in May 2010 following a jury trial of all nine counts he was charged with, The News reported.

Besides the imprisonment, he was also fined 1,000 dollars for each of the nine counts of conviction by Senior District Judge in Houston Ewing Werlein yesterday.

As a foreign national with a student visa, Mirza was not permitted by federal law to possess firearms while in the United States, the statement said.

Earlier, an FBI undercover investigation had found that Mirza and others intended to send funds to the Taliban, and had engaged in weekend training and practice sessions with firearms to prepare for "jihad" on six different occasions, beginning in May 2006 at a location on the north side of Houston.

The investigation was conducted by the Houston office of the FBI with the assistance of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (ANI)