OXFORD–Jaelyn Delshaun Young was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and 15 years of supervised release in federal court on Thursday for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.
Young, a 20-year-old Vicksburg native and former Mississippi State student, pleaded guilty to the charge on March 29 in exchange for prosecutors dropping two other charges. Though the remaining charge carried a punishment of up to 20 years in jail, 12 years was the maximum possible sentence under the terms of the plea agreement.
Her sentence also includes 15 years of supervised release following her prison term with mandatory mental health treatment and unannounced computer checks.
Young, along with fiancee Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla of Starkville, was arrested last August at Golden Triangle Regional Airport. The couple was trying to flee the country and join the Islamic State.
At Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Young’s father, mother and pastor all testified to her upbringing. Young was an outgoing, well-behaved child with no history of anti-American rhetoric, they said. Young’s father, Leon, is a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and served 14 tours overseas. Young’s mother, Benita, is the superintendent of schools in Madison Parish, Louisiana.
In their remarks, both parents blamed themselves for Young’s attempted defection. Leon Young said his absence and military service took an emotional toll on his daughter. Benita Young said she had ignored previous breakdowns and evidence of cutting without realizing they were cries for help.
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Sharion Aycock waved off both parents’ attempts to take responsibility.
“I don’t think there’s any question that you were a willing part of a very serious crime,” Aycock told Jaelyn Young. “This is your fault. You did it. You’re to blame and you have to stand on your own two feet.”
Dennis Sweet, Young’s attorney, argued that she be given further leniency by the court due to her mental instability at the time of the attempted defection, the fact that she planned on becoming a medic for ISIL — not a combat fighter like Dakhlalla — and that at least two other defendants in similar cases in Minnesota and Colorado were given significantly shorter sentences.
U.S. Attorney Clayton Joyner counter-argued that all of those considerations had already been factored into the government’s 12-year recommendation under the plea deal. He cited issues of objectivity in the defense’s psychiatric report and noted a handful of recent similar cases where the defendant received more than 12 years in prison, calling the two cases the defense cited as “outliers.”
Joyner also went on to note that, unlike Dakhlalla, Young remained uncooperative for months after her arrest and even wrote letters to Dakhlalla urging him to lie in his testimony.
“We will do or say anything to get out of this together,” Young wrote.
In court, however, Young appeared contrite. She said the stress of life and school had overwhelmed her and she was led down a “surreal” path to radicalization. She wept and apologized for the shame she’d brought on her family, specifically her father.
“I said and did things that weren’t me, and I’m ashamed,” Young said. “I swear if I could go back and take it all back I would. I wish I would have just dropped out of school and tried to start over.”
But Joyner maintained that the negotiated sentence was fair and Aycock ultimately agreed.
“Apology and remorse does not negate her betrayal of her country in the most profound way possible,” Joyner said.
Dakhlalla is scheduled for sentencing later this month.
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