A third-grade teacher at Al Huda School in North College Park [Maryland, just east of Washington DC and home to the U-MD Terrapins with lots of gullible college kidz] was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for his participation in the ‘‘Virginia Jihad Network.” Ali Asad Chandia, 29, was the last of a group of 11 Muslim men charged in Alexandria, Va. U.S. District Courts for training with Lashkar-I-Taiba, a group fighting against the Indian government and labeled a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, according to a Washington Post report. | “With Allah as my witness, I tell everyone that I am innocent...” |
Prosecutors originally sought a sentence of 30 years to life in prison, the Post report reads, while defense lawyers said Chandia deserves a maximum sentence of 6 1⁄2 years. A Washington Post article quotes Chandia defending himself while exiting the courtroom: ‘‘With Allah as my witness, I tell everyone that I am innocent. ... God knows that I did not support and would not support any terrorists.”