New York Woman Gets 18 Years for Funding Terrorism With Cryptocurrency

A New York woman was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Tuesday for funding terrorism by using cryptocurrency to send financial support to groups operating in Syria.

After Judge Althea Drysdale imposed the sentence, the woman, Victoria Jacobs, 44, yelled that the trial had been “a sham” and “Islamophobic” as officers led her from the courtroom.

Dressed in a tan sweatshirt and khaki pants, Ms. Jacobs had appeared irritated as soon as she sat down at the defense table and had asked that her handcuffs be removed.

In February, a Manhattan jury convicted Ms. Jacobs of three felony counts of providing support for an act of terrorism after a trial that lasted about two weeks. The jury also found her guilty of conspiracy, money laundering and criminal possession of a weapon.

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, had said that the case was the first time terrorism funding had been prosecuted in New York State Supreme Court.

“Victoria Jacobs was fully immersed in online terrorist ecosystems, raising and laundering thousands of dollars and procuring bomb-making instructions and illegal knives for Syrian terrorist groups,” Mr. Bragg said in a statement Tuesday. “From the safety of her Manhattan apartment, she enabled these groups to access our city’s financial markets in order to help further their mission.”