U.S. District Judge Michael Davis allowed a man to withdraw his appeal Tuesday after being sentenced last October to 20 years in prison for aiding a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, the Associated Press reports.
Mahamud Said Omar was convicted for playing a key role in recruiting young men, including two presumably dead University of Minnesota students, to fight for the Somalian militant group al-Shabaab, according to a previous Minnesota Daily story.
Omar’s attorneys filed a notice to appeal his sentence after the conviction. But Omar said he wanted to withdraw his appeal. A psychologist had to conclude Omar was mentally stable in order for him to be allowed to withdraw the appeal.
“[H]e just wants it over,” said Andrew Birrell, one of his lawyers. “He wants to just do his time and be done with it.”
