Colorado Woman Sentenced in Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorists

PHILADELPHIA—Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, 35, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Colorado, was sentenced today to eight years in prison for one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. Ramirez, a co-defendant of Colleen LaRose, a/k/a “Jihad Jane,” pleaded guilty to the charge on March 8, 2011. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Petrese B. Tucker ordered three years of supervised release and ordered Ramirez to pay a fine of $2,500 and a $100 special assessment.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney Zane David Memeger, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Ed Hanko.

According to documents filed with the court, Ramirez, LaRose, and others conspired to obtain military‑style training in South Asia and then traveled to and around Europe to participate in and in support of violent jihad. In a series of electronic communications dated July 19, 2009, one co‑conspirator (identified as CC#2 in the superseding indictment) directed another to recruit online “some brothers that can travel freely...with eu passports...[A]nd I also need some sisters too.” The co‑conspirator further explained that “sister fatima will be in charge of other sister care....[W]e have already organized everything for her....[W]e are will[ing] to die in order to protect her no matter what the risk is.”

Ramirez exchanged e‑mail messages with LaRose during the summer of 2009, in which LaRose invited Ramirez to join her in Europe to attend a training camp. For example, on August 1, 2009, LaRose sent electronic communications to Ramirez stating that “soon i will be moving to Europe to be with other brothers & sisters...when i get to europe, i will send for you to come be with me there....[T]his place will be like a training camp as well as a home.” In electronic communications dated on or about August 7, 2009, CC #2 recruited another individual to find brothers and sisters to go to a “camp for [military‑style] training...and th[e]n come back to europe to do the job....[T]he job is to [k]nock down some individual[s] that are harming islam.” CC#2 goes on to explain that he is structuring “an organization” divided into a “plan[n]ing team...research team...action team...recruitment team...finance team.”

Ramirez accepted LaRose’s invitation to travel to Europe and asked to bring along her minor male child. On September 12, 2009, Ramirez traveled to Ireland with her child with the intent to live and train with jihadists. The day after she arrived in Ireland, Ramirez married CC#2, whom she had never before met in person, in an Islamic ceremony, knowing and intending that her presence in Europe, her marriage to CC#2, and her future actions would provide support for the conspiracy.

This case was investigated by the FBI Field Division in New York, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Philadelphia, the FBI Field Division in Denver, and the FBI Field Office in Washington, D.C. Authorities in Ireland also provided assistance in this matter.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams and Matthew F. Blue, a trial attorney from the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division also provided assistance.