Ryan G . Anderson Ryan Gibson Anderson ( born 1978 ) , is an American former Washington State National Guardsman convicted by court - martial on September 3 , 2004 on five counts of attempting to provide aid to the terrorist network al - Qaeda . He is currently serving a life sentence in the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas with the eligibility of parole . Anderson was a tank crewman and held the rank of Specialist ( E - 4 ) . He was assigned to the 81st Armored Brigade unit and was preparing for deployment to Iraq when he was arrested in a joint FBI and United States Army Intelligence and Security Command ( INSCOM ) sting operation on February 12 , 2004 . At the time of the court - martial verdict , the jury of nine commissioned officers reduced Anderson ’ s rank to private and gave him a dishonorable discharge . Background . Anderson was born and raised in Everett , Washington . He attended Cascade High School . He then attended Washington State University and majored in history , where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002 . Anderson was married on April 5 , 2004 to Erin Wheatley . They met while both attending Washington State University . Erin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications , also in 2002 . She then moved to Kansas to be closer to her incarcerated husband , attended the University of Missouri - Kansas City from 2007 to 2009 and graduated with a Master ' s in counseling and guidance . She was recently admitted to Washburn University Graduate School of Social Work . In 1999 , Anderson converted to Islam and adopted the name Amir Abdul Rashid . Prior to his capture , Anderson was seen on a surveillance tape , when he said the following : " " I wish to desert from the U . S . Army . I wish to defect from the United States . I wish to join al - Qaeda , train its members and conduct terrorist attacks . " " Arrest . Anderson was arrested February 12 , 2004 after a joint investigation by the United States Army , United States Justice Department , and FBI . They monitored his online activities , such as logging onto extremist Internet chat room s , trying to get in touch with al - Qaeda operatives , and offering the organization information on United States military capabilities and weaponry . Shortly before his arrest , Anderson was recorded on video surveillance providing tactical information on methods of killing U . S . troops and destroying tank s to undercover agents posing as al - Qaeda operatives . They tapped his and his wife ' s cell phones , pulled text messages , and followed both him and his wife in their daily lives . Shannen Rossmiller , a former municipal judge in Conrad , Montana and amateur Cyber spy , is credited with first encountering Anderson in an online Islamist chat room . In posts , Anderson offered assistance in gathering information and in killing U . S . soldiers . After ascertaining that Anderson was in the U . S . military , Rossmiller contacted the FBI who set up the sting operation with the Department of Justice and the military . Court - martial . On September 2 , 2004 , a military jury found Anderson guilty of five counts of attempting to aid and provide intelligence to the enemy . In his defense , Anderson ' s lawyers made an insanity plea , offering medical testimony that he has bipolar disorder and Asperger syndrome . They also claimed that he used role - playing to create structure in his life , therefore inducing him into the entrapment created by the authorities . He was given a demotion to the rank of private , a dishonorable discharge , and sentenced to a life sentence , with the possibility of parole . Pfc . Scott Specht , a witness for the prosecution , testified that Anderson once told him that he had joined the Army so he could " go to the motherland and help liberate my Muslim brothers . " " I was taken back by his statement . I was somewhat startled by it , " said Specht , who trained with Anderson at boot camp at Fort Knox in January 2003 . " I decided it was probably best that I kept my distance . "