(AP) A Florida woman was sentenced Friday to five years and 10 months in federal prison for attempting to send cellphones to the Middle East to be used as bomb detonators by the Islamic State terrorist group.
Alison Marie Sheppard, 35, of Punta Gorda, had pleaded guilty in Fort Myers federal court last year to attempting to provide material support to IS, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Sheppard began using Facebook and other social media applications in 2016 to connect with others who supported a Salafi jihadist mindset and IS, according to court documents. She also used social media applications to engage in encrypted communications with people she believed were supporters of IS.
