MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A man awaiting sentencing in Minnesota for plotting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group says he's not a terrorist.

19-year-old Hanad Mustafe Musse wrote a letter to the federal judge who will sentence him later this month, calling the Islamic State "cowards" and saying he's a victim of the group's "intense mental warfare."

Musse pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He was among seven men charged. He faces up to 15 years in prison. His attorney is asking for six years.

Musse said in court that he wanted to join the Islamic State. He says in the letter to U.S. District Judge Michael Davis that he's "against terrorism."

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