Associated Press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — For the third time in the last five years, a judge has sentenced a former Maryland schoolteacher to 15 years in prison for supporting a Pakistani terror group.
U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton had twice sentenced Ali Asad Chandia to 15 years in prison for helping a leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group ship 50,000 paintball pellets from the U.S. to Pakistan.
Twice a federal appeals court tossed out the sentence, ruling that Hilton did not articulate the justification for such a harsh term.
At Friday’s hearing, Hilton said the evidence showed that Chandia knew that Lashkar was a terrorist group and that he willingly lent his support.
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