4 men set to be sentenced in Somali terror case

Published 11:13 am Tuesday, May 14, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS — Four more men convicted in the government’s investigation into terror recruiting for al-Shabab in Somalia are scheduled to be sentenced in federal court.

The defendants who face sentencing Tuesday include two men who left Minnesota to join the terrorist group and one man who has been characterized as a recruiter.

During last year’s trial of another defendant, witnesses said Omer Abdi Mohamed used his knowledge of the Quran to convince them they had a duty to fight. After the trial, Mohamed was arrested when the court learned he was working at a school. A federal judge called him “a danger to the community.”

Mohamed’s attorney has denied that his client was a recruiter.

Authorities say that since 2007, more than 20 young men have left Minnesota to join al-Shabab.