Alabama seems an unlikely place for overseas terrorism, but this case proves that you never know where it can occur.

Reuters tells us that Randy “Rasheed” Wilson and Mohammad Abdul Rahman Abukhdair were each sentenced to 15 years in prison today by U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose for “conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.”

The two met online in 2010, and Abukhdair moved in with the Wilson family in Mobile, Alabama a year after. By this time, Abukhdair had already been jailed in Egypt on suspicion of terrorist-related activities, and by 2011 the FBI began recording the two new roommate’s conversations and emails. Authorities stepped in earlier this year after they both were found attempting to leave the country after settling on a place and action for, in the judge’s words, their “well-researched plan” for jihad.

It has also been reported that Wilson was also friends with the recently killed prominent member of the al Shabaab (and Alabama native) Omar Hammami. The al Shabaab are connected to the recent Kenya and Somalia attacks.

Attorneys asserted to the court that the accused only said disturbing things, and that one should not be punished for that. The final decision today, however, ended with both defendants receiving the maximum sentence for the charge.

What do you think? Were Randy Wilson and Mohammad Abukhdair unfairly sentenced or was it just action performed by the United States?

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