A Florida man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for posting bomb-making instructions on websites frequented by extremist groups such as the Islamic State.
A Miami federal judge imposed the maximum sentence Thursday on 34-year-old Tayyab Tahir Ismail, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan. The FBI says Ismail posted bomb instructions last year on five occasions and that they were accurate.
Ismail’s lawyers had sought a lenient sentence, arguing he suffered through a terrible childhood and has a mental disorder. Ismail expressed remorse and renounced violence at Thursday’s hearing.
Ismail was also an associate of James Medina, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for plotting to blow up a South Florida synagogue and Jewish school. He was snared in an FBI sting with a fake bomb.
