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On April 12, sentencing was pronounced. An FBI Boston Division announced it, saying:
"A Sudbury, Massachusetts man who was convicted last year on charges that he conspired to kill Americans was sentenced today to 17.5 years in federal prison.""US District Court Judge George A. O'Toole, Jr. sentenced Tarek Mehanna, 29, to 210 months, to be followed by seven years of supervised release."
"Mehanna was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, providing material support to terrorists (and conspiracy to do so), conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, conspiracy to make false statements to the FBI, and two counts of making false statements."
Last December, the ACLU of Massachusetts condemned the conviction, saying it "undermine(d) the First Amendment and threaten(ed) national security."
"Under the government's theory of the case, ordinary people - including writers and journalists, academic researchers, translators, and even ordinary web surfers - could be prosecuted for researching or translating controversial and unpopular ideas. If the verdict is not overturned on appeal, the First Amendment will be seriously compromised."
On April 13, the Boston Globe reported Mehanna's father, Ahmed, expressing outrage about his conviction. He said it shows America is more repressive than the Egyptian government he grew up under decades earlier.
Mehanna's support committee issued a statement, saying:
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