NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A British citizen was sentenced Wednesday to more than 12 years in prison by a judge who said he supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan while it was protecting Osama bin Laden.

Judge Janet Hall sentenced Babar Ahmad to 12 years and six months but gave him credit for the 10 years he already served. Hall said Ahmad helped enable bin Laden to be protected when he was plotting the Sept. 11 attacks by supporting the Taliban. But she said Ahmad had no knowledge of the plot and there was no evidence he supported bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist group.

"You can't walk away from the fact that what you were doing was enabling bin Laden to be protected in Afghanistan and to train the men who actually boarded the flights that drove into the Pentagon and World Trade Center," Hall said.

But she imposed a much lower sentence that the 25 years sought by prosecutors, rejecting their claim that he posed a high risk of recidivism. She also rejected testimony from a government cooperating witness that Ahmad had traveled to Afghanistan.

The case did not involve participation in acts of terrorism, and Ahmad showed no interest in doing so even after receiving a document detailing the movements and vulnerabilities of a U.S. Navy battle group, Hall said.

Ahmad pleaded guilty in December to supporting terrorists through websites that sought to raise cash, recruit fighters and solicit items such as gas masks for the Taliban.

Ahmad's attorney has said he publicly condemned the Sept. 11 attacks and deeply regrets his support for the Taliban. Ahmad says he tried to help Muslims under attack in Bosnia and Chechnya, recalling atrocities he learned about while in Bosnia.

Hall and a prosecutor said his support for the Taliban continued after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Ahmad told the judge he supported the Taliban because it was under attack, not because he supported bin Laden or Al-Qaida. He said he has read books about pacifist leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, and others while in prison and said talks can resolve differences.

"Not every conflict in the world is Bosnia," Ahmad said. "The world is complicated."

A co-defendant, Syed Talha Ahsan, was being sentenced Wednesday afternoon. He faced up to 15 years in prison.

The two men, who were extradited from Britain in 2012, faced charges in Connecticut because authorities said they used an Internet service provider in the state to run one of the websites.