A US federal judge sentenced Hamid Hayat to 24 years in prison for attending a terrorism training camp in Pakistan and returning to the United States “ready and willing to wage violent jihad.”

The 25-year-old Pakistani-American was convicted last year in April for providing material support to terrorists and lying about it when questioned by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Prosecutors couldn’t prove he had connections or was part of a terrorist sleeper cell based in the Californian town of Lodi.

Hayat admitted he had attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan between 2003 and 2004, but later claimed he was innocent and made that testimony under pressure. Hayat alleged that investigators had questioned him for several hours and determined him to say “untrue things.”

He was also found guilty of lying to the FBI agents about his intentions after being arrested in 2005, when he returned from a two-year visit to Pakistan.

According to prosecutors, he had received terrorist training and was prepared to carry out attacks against targets in California, like government buildings and crowded areas (supermarkets, banks, hospitals).

Hayat could have received a 39-years sentence, but the judge said the final sentence was passed down after considering this was his first offence.

One of the federal prosecutors involved in the case welcomed this decision evoking the al-Qaeda attacks carried out six years ago on September 11.

“The threat to our nation demonstrated by the acts of the 9/11 terrorists was brought home with the revelations of Hamid Hayat's actions two years ago,” McGregor Scott reportedly said.