A Brooklyn man who advocated allegiance to ISIS and uploaded an instructional manual online on how to carry out the Lone-Wolf terrorist attacks in New York was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Wednesday.
The suspect, 42-year-old Zachary Clark, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS last year – and he admitted how to carry out attacks on encrypted chat rooms designed to recruit new terrorists.
During a hearing in Manhattan federal court, Judge Naomi Bouchwald said that prior to his arrest, Clarke said he was ready to die for the cause – and showed little remorse after he put the collar on him.
Instead, Buchwald said, Clarke showed “regret he was caught” and “regret that he is facing a prolonged stretch in prison.”
Jonathan Mervini, an attorney for Clark, portrayed his client as being disenchanted with drug addiction victims when he pledged his allegiance to the deadly terrorist group.
Clarke was “mainlineing hard drugs, injecting them into his body”, Marvin said, adding that he was using three grams of cocaine with 20 grams of heroin per day.
During the trial, Clarke got tattoos on his face and knuckles, saying that he had been thinking clearly since getting drugs in prison – and vowed to help young people when he was released from prison.
“To sit here and I’m sorry I would be very happy,” Clarke said.
He will face a lifetime of supervised release by federal authorities after serving his prison sentence.
Leave a Reply