'American Taliban' John Walker Lindh Released From Prison

MARIN COUNTY, CA -- John Walker Lindh, the Marin County man who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, was released from a federal prison in Indiana on Thursday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Lindh, 38, was let out after serving 17 years of his 20-year sentence for supplying services to the Taliban and carrying explosive devices -- a rifle and two grenades -- while doing so. The early release resulted from credit for good behavior.

He pled guilty to the two charges in a plea bargain in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2002.

Lindh, the son of former California Public Utilities General Counsel Frank Lindh and Marilyn Walker, moved to San Anselmo with his family at age 10, grew up in Fairfax and went to high school in Larkspur. He converted to Islam at age 16 and went to Yemen to study Arabic.

Lindh joined the Taliban in Afghanistan in the summer of 2001 to fight the Northern Alliance in a civil war. He was captured by Northern Alliance troops and turned over to the U.S. military in Afghanistan in late 2001, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

He will spend three years on supervised release. Under conditions set by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis, any Internet use by Lindh will be monitored continuously by his probation officer. He is not allowed to possess or view material reflecting extremist or terrorist views or to communicate
with any known extremist.

Lindh, who's also required to undergo mental health counseling, was the first person to be charged in a U.S. court in the nation's post-Sept. 11 war on terrorism.

He was originally accused in a 10-count indictment that included a charge of conspiring to kill Americans, but that charge and others were dropped by federal prosecutors as part of the plea agreement.

It is still unclear whether he will return to Marin County. He still has ties to the area, including his father, who teaches at USF and UC Hastings law schools.

Bay City News contributed to this report.