NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia man who told an FBI undercover employee he wanted to commit jihad has been sentenced to five years in prison for passport fraud and making false statements in his application to join the U.S. military.
A U.S. attorney’s office news release says 28-year-old Shivam Patel, of Williamsburg, was sentenced Monday.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that Patel, who was raised Hindu before converting to Islam, left his job teaching English in China to fly to Jordan, where he talked about joining the Islamic State group. Prosecutors say Jordan moved to deport him.
He was met by the FBI informant, who said Patel expressed admiration for Maj. Nidal Hasan, an Army officer who had killed 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas. Patel didn’t disclose his overseas trips in his application.
