Betim Kaziu received a sentence of 27 years for his part in a conspiracy to spread terror and kill American soldiers in the Balkans and the Middle East through violent jihad.

Evidence in his trial showed that Kaziu left the U.S. and traveled to Cairo, Egypt in February 2009. While there, he attempted to gain access to automatic weapons and then travel to Somalia to join up with Shabaab, a Somalian terrorist group with close ties to al Qaeda. Failing in that, Kaziu eventually traveled to Kosovo to attempt to kill U.S. soldiers there. While there in Kosovo, he purchased a ticket to travel to Pakistan, where he intended to join al Qaeda.

During his stay on the Albanian coast, Kaziu recorded his martyrdom video, a video showing his “last few moments” before he expected to depart for “jannah” or the paradise reserved for martyrs. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested on August 27th by the Kosovo police service.

Kosovo police transferred custody of Kaziu to agents and detectives of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Accoridng to court records, and testimony, it was proven that Kaziu had been radicalized by Inernet speeches posted by Anwar al-Awlakai and propaganda videos put out by al Shabaab and al Qaeda. The prosecution also introduced evidence showing Kaziu’s pro al Qaeda social networking website that included quotes from Osama Bin Laden.

Betim Kaziu is 23.