U.S. v. Van Haften

Dist. Ct. did not err in sentencing defendant to below-Guidelines, 120-month term of incarceration on charge of attempting to provide material support to foreign terrorist organization, where Dist. Ct. found that defendant qualified for “terrorism” enhancement under section 3A1.4 of USSG because defendant’s crime was calculated to influence or affect conduct of govt. by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against govt. conduct. Defendant’s writings established direct causal link between his hatred of U.S. govt. and his desire to join ISIS “for war against American liars” and to “kill me some American soldier boys.” While defendant described his anti-U.S. rants as mere venting, Dist. Ct. could properly find that defendant’s decision to join ISIS’s war against U.S. was act of retaliation. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly reject defendant’s argument that he wanted to join ISIS solely to help less fortunate individuals or to seek shelter from impending holy war.