RELIGION

Final 3 Minnesotans to be sentenced in Islamic State case

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office shows Guled Omar, of Minnesota. Omar described as a leader of a group of nine who plotted to travel to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, by a federal judge who said he didn't believe the man's tearful apologies and words of contrition. (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Stillwater, Minn., shows Mohamed Farah, of Minnesota. Farah was sentenced at U.S. District Court in Minnesota on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, to 30 years in prison for conspiring to join the Islamic State group in Syria. (Washington County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - This undated file photo provided the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office in Elk River, Minn., shows Abdirahman Daud, of Minnesota. Daud was sentenced at U.S. District Court in Minnesota on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016, to 30 years in prison for conspiring to join the Islamic State group in Syria. (Sherburne County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

Sentencing hearings are wrapping up for nine men convicted of plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group.

The final three defendants — Guled Omar, Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud — will be sentenced Wednesday. Prosecutors say the 22-year-old men are part of a group of friends in Minnesota's large Somali community who inspired each other to join the militant group.

Six men who pleaded guilty were sentenced on Monday and Tuesday.

Omar, Farah and Daud took their case to trial and were convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, as well as a more serious count of conspiracy to commit murder outside the U.S.

That count carries a possible life sentence, but prosecutors are seeking sentences of 40 and 30 years.