‘JihadJane’ pleads guilty

PHILADELPHIA – Colleen LaRose, the suburban Philadelphia woman known as JihadJane, pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to participating in a terror plot to kill a Swedish artist.

LaRose, a 47-year-old who lived with her boyfriend and her elderly mother in Pennsburg, spoke only briefly in federal court in Philadelphia, mostly to simply affirm her guilt to the charges outlined by federal prosecutors.

With her long tangled blonde hair and stylish fingernails, the soft-spoken, 4-foot-10 LaRose struck a meek and diminutive pose in court Tuesday, a vivid contrast to the strident, often virulent jihadist prose she posted online.

U.S. counterterrorism officials have said LaRose represents a new and alarming threat – an American-born woman who had joined an Islamic terror conspiracy.

“Today’s plea, by a woman from suburban America who plotted with others to commit murder overseas and to provide material support to terrorists, underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face,” David Kris, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said in a statement.

During the hearing, LaRose pleaded guilty to charges that she engaged in a conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, including providing a U.S. passport, and lied to FBI agents about it.

If she had gone to trial and lost, LaRose would have faced a likely life sentence. The sentencing guidelines now likely call for a term of 30 years to life, though U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker could impose a shorter term.

By many accounts, LaRose has lived a gritty life – divorced twice, arrested or charged often for petty offenses, some of them alcohol-related.

Those who knew her well, including her boyfriend of six years, Kurt Gorman, have said they are shocked by her involvement. “Had anyone accused her of terrorism, I would have thought it was joke,” he said last year.

But as outlined in court Tuesday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams, LaRose’s affiliation and contact with Islamic extremists was no joke.

“LaRose worked obsessively on her computer to communicate with, recruit and incite other jihadists,” Williams said. The prosecutor said LaRose used the monikers JihadJane and Fatima Rose, and bragged online that she could use her identity – her Western face, blond hair and U.S. passport – to help terrorists achieve their goals.

Williams said that LaRose sent e-mails pledging to “become a martyr,” and by March 2009 was agreeing to help kill Swedish artist Lars Vilk, whose 2007 drawing of a dog with the head of Muhammad offended some Muslims.

LaRose’s travel to Europe in September 2009 included an alleged visit to Ireland to meet seven co-conspirators, who have not been identified in court documents. She offered to use her U.S. identity and her boyfriend’s passport and to marry a jihadist to help in the terror plot, Williams said.