An upstate New York man is being accused of attempting to provide material support for ISIS and plotting to kill current and former members of the US military.
Mufid A. Elfgeeh, 30, from Rochester, New York, has been indicted by a grand jury on three counts of trying to provide various resources and material support for ISIS. He is also being charged with attempted murder for plotting to kill various personnel connected to the military.
Court documents are saying Elfgeeh tried to provide three people here in the US with the resources to travel to the Middle East to become fighters for ISIS. However, according to Al-Jazeera, two of the people trying to travel to the Middle East were cooperating with the FBI and informed the authorities on Elfgeeh’s plans.
“Disrupting and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin according to Politico, “is and shall remain a critical national security priority.”
The three charges for assisting ISIS carry a maximum sentence of 15-years, while the attempted murder charge carries a potential 20-year sentence.
This is not the first time this year Elfgeeh has been picked up by the FBI. Earlier this year, members of the FBI’s Rochester Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Elfgeeh after he purchased two handguns with silencers outfitted for each. The task force said Elfgeeh planned on killing US soldiers returning from war as well as Shiites in the Rochester area.
“We will remain aggressive in identifying and disrupting those who seek to provide support to ISIL and other terrorist groups that are bent on inflicting harm upon Americans,” said Attorney General Eric Holder according to CBS in New York. “As this case shows, our agents and prosecutors are using all the investigative tools at our disposal to break up these plots before individuals can put their plans into action. We are focused on breaking up these activities on the front end, before supporters of ISIL can make good on plans to travel to the region or recruit sympathizers to this cause.”
Elfgeeh was made a US citizen last year.