Former Sheriff's Deputy and ISIS Sympathizer Sentenced
WINSTON-SALEM- A federal judge sentenced a Salisbury man and ISIS sympathizer.
Donald Morgan will spend 20 years and 3 months behind bars after pleading guilty to charges that he tried to help Isis.
Morgan told the court his intent was to provide humanitarian aid, but the judge said Morgan's social media showed support for ISIS killings.
In the courtroom, Morgan's mother quietly cried after the sentence was handed down.
Morgan entered a not guilty plea last September to a federal weapons charge. A grand jury indicted Morgan last May after investigators say he tried to sell a rifle online.
Also last year, Morgan traveled to the middle east in a failed attempt to travel to Syria. U.S. authorities later arrested him at JFK Airport in New York after he returned from Lebanon.
While in Beirut, he told a freelance journalist he had intended to enter Syria, either to join with medical and food aid convoys or directly with the Islamic State.
Morgan served briefly in the National Guard and as a Deputy in the Rowan County Sheriff's Office in the 1990s. He later converted to Islam.
While investigating the weapons charge, U.S. officials uncovered twitter postings in which Morgan pledged his allegiance to the leader of ISIS.
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