A former DePaul University student was sentenced Thursday to 7 ½ years in federal prison for using his developing computer skills to help the Islamic State terrorist group spread violent propaganda on social media.
Lawyers for Thomas Osadzinski, 23, painted him as a naive, socially awkward teenager who was struggling with mental health issues when he “got sucked in” by the radical ideologies in the dark corners of the internet.
In sentencing Osadzinski, however, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said that there was a wide gulf between typical youthful indirection or poor judgment and Osadzinski’s conduct, which included pledging fealty to a “hideous group” such as ISIS and “promoting and encouraging” its violent message around the globe.
