Jaelyn Young/Twitter
“I will contact you soon. I am safe. Don’t look for me because you won’t be able to retrieve me if you tried. I am leaving to become a medic,” 20-year-old Jaelyn Young wrote on a note to her family back in August. “I found the contacts, made arrangements, planned the departure. I am guilty of what you soon will find out.”
Turns out, the Mississippi State sophomore was really heading to board a plane to Istanbul with her fiancé, Muhammad Dakhlalla. They told people they were going on their honeymoon. Really, they intended to join ISIS.
Growing up, Jaelyn was a typical all-American girl. She graduated high school with honors, was a cheerleader, and even served on the homecoming committee.
While studying Mississippi State University, she converted to Islam and began wearing a burqa in March 2015.
“After her conversion, Young distanced herself from family and friends and felt spending time with non-Muslims would be a bad influence,” prosecutors wrote this month.
The court papers said Young and then Dakhlalla contacted undercover FBI employees online stating they wanted help to travel to Islamic State group territory.
Jaelyn pleaded guilty to one count of providing material support or resources to terrorists in front of U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock in Mississippi, PEOPLE reports. Young faces up to 20 years in prison along with $250,000 in fines and lifetime probation, according to the Associated Press. Her fiancé pleaded guilty to similar charge earlier this month.