WINSTON-SALEM — A federal judge sentenced former Rowan County resident Donald Ray Morgan to 20 years in prison today for trying to join the Islamic State terrorist group.

Morgan pleaded guilty in October to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

He was initially held on the gun charge after his arrest at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Aug. 2, shortly after arriving on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany. The terrorism charge was added later.

Morgan admitted at the time that he tried to travel from Lebanon to Syria to join the Islamic State terrorist group, though in court today he said he only wanted to provide humanitarian aid.

He also admitted in October posting pro-jihadist messages on social media and was featured in a NBC news report expressing support for the organization, which has seized control of parts of Iraq and Syria while brutally and publicly slaying people it has taken prisoner.

The judge who sentenced Morgan said he wanted to make the punishment a deterrent to others who would try to join terrorist organizations.