'Jihad Jane' pleads guilty; sentencing not set

Jihad Jane, the online moniker of Colleen R. LaRose, walked into a federal courtroom yesterday, with bleached blonde hair, orange sneakers and a hunter-green prison jumpsuit.

She admitted that she had conspired to support terrorists, planned to kill in a foreign nation, lied to the FBI and tried to steal her ex-boyfriend's identity.

LaRose's admission came in a 20-minute hearing before U.S. District Judge Petrese Tucker.

A sentencing date was continued pending a pre-sentence investigation report.

Neither Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams nor federal defender Mark Wilson commented outside court. Wilson said that he would have "a lot to say" at sentencing.

The indictment against LaRose, 47, formerly of Pennsburg, Montgomery County, was unsealed last March after authorities arrested seven alleged terrorists in Ireland - including co-defendant Jamie Paulin-Ramirez - allegedly linked to LaRose. Paulin-Ramirez, 32, has been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.

Jeremy H.G. Ibrahim, the attorney for Paulin-Ramirez, said it appeared that LaRose had made what is known as an "open plea."

That's when a defendant goes directly to a judge (who has wide discretion in sentencing) and simply pleads guilty without agreeing to a deal with prosecutors.

Ibrahim said that LaRose's plea made it more likely that his client would go to trial, which is slated for May 2.

Authorities have alleged that LaRose recruited Paulin-Ramirez, formerly of Leadville, Colo., to join her in Europe in 2009 to attend a jihadist training camp.

The government's plea memo offered a few new insights into LaRose.

In addition to "Jihad Jane" and "Fatima LaRose," LaRose also had other online names, including "ExtremeSister4Life" and "SisterOfTerror."

LaRose "worked obsessively" on her computer to communicate with, recruit and incite other jihadists, the plea memo said.

The feds said that she used multiple e-mail and YouTube accounts to publish jihadist literature and videos, communicate with terrorists, raise money for them and even "plan an overseas murder in furtherance of violent jihad," or Muslim holy war.

The latter charge - which carries a maximum prison sentence of life - referred to a plot to kill the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.

LaRose "accepted an assignment" to kill Vilks from a man in Southeast Asia whom she met online and planned to marry, court papers said.

The feds said that LaRose tried to find Vilks and that she traveled to Europe on Aug. 23, 2009, to be closer to her co-conspirators and "her target."

The plot against Vilks - who in 2007 had drawn ire among Muslims for depicting the head of the prophet Muhammad on the body of a dog - was never carried out.

LaRose has been locked up since she was arrested here by the FBI in October 2009.