2 convicted ISIS recruits from Minnesota ask judge for de-radicalization program

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Attorneys for 2 of the 3 Minnesota men convicted of attempting to join ISIS in Syria are asking a federal judge to let them enroll in a de-radicalization program. Motions filed on behalf of Abdirahman Daud and Guled Omar ask U.S. District Judge Michael Davis to consider allowing the men to participate in a program developed by German expert Daniel Koehler.

Koehler, director of the German Institute on Radicalization and De-Radicalization Studies, has extensive experience with neo-Nazis and other extremists. The de-radicalization program was offered to 6 other Minnesota men who pleaded guilty to conspiring to support a foreign terrorist organization. Daud, Omar and Mohamed Farah pleaded not guilty and were convicted by a jury in May.

Farah has not requested participation in the program.

While there are no sentencing dates set for the ISIS suspects, a clerk forJudge Davis told Fox 9 they will likely be sentenced in late fall or early winter, and the sentencings will be held back-to-back over several days.