HOUSTON — A Texas man convicted of trying to help al-Qaida has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A federal judge in Houston also ordered Barry Walter Bujol Jr. to pay a $10,000 fine at a sentencing hearing today.

Bujol was convicted last year of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and of aggravated identity theft.

Bujol was arrested in May 2010 after using fake identification to sneak onboard a Middle East-bound ship. He is a U.S. citizen.

Prosecutors say he was trying to join al-Qaida and had attempted to provide the organization with money, restricted U.S. military documents and GPS equipment.

The 31-year-old says he never intended to help al-Qaida and that he wanted to leave the U.S. because he disagreed with its foreign policy.