A Hudson County, New Jersey, man was arrested today on
charges of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq
and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and aiding
and abetting an attempt to do so, announced Assistant Attorney General for
National Security John P. Carlin, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District
of New Jersey and Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s
Newark, New Jersey, Division.
Alaa Saadeh, 23, of West New York, New Jersey, was arrested
early this morning at his home. He is
charged in a complaint with conspiring with other individuals in New Jersey and
New York to provide services and personnel to ISIL, aiding and abetting an attempt
to provide services and personnel to ISIL and attempting to persuade a witness
to lie to the FBI. The defendant is
scheduled to make his initial appearance at 2:30 p.m. today before U.S.
Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor of the District of New Jersey.
According to documents filed in this case:
The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) have been
investigating a group of individuals from New York and New Jersey who have
allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIL. Co-Conspirator 1 (CC-1) is Saadeh’s brother
and was a resident of Rutherford, New Jersey, until departing the United States
on May 5, 2015, allegedly to join ISIL.
Co-Conspirator 2 (CC-2) was a resident of Queens, New York, until he was
arrested on June 13, 2015, in New York on terrorism charges. Samuel Rahamin Topaz was a resident of Fort
Lee, New Jersey, until he was arrested on June 17, 2015, in New Jersey and
charged with conspiring to provide services and personnel to ISIL.
On May 5, 2015, CC-1 attempted to travel from New Jersey to
the Middle East, via John F. Kennedy International Airport, allegedly in order
to join ISIL. CC-1 was accompanied to
JFK by Saadeh and CC-2. On the way to the
airport, CC-1 stated that he, Saadeh, CC-2 and Topaz had plans to reunite overseas
within a few weeks.
After CC-1’s departure, and despite learning from CC-1’s
family that he had been arrested in Jordan on suspicion of supporting ISIL,
Saadeh, CC-2 and Topaz continued to discuss their plan to travel overseas to
join ISIL. Electronic communications
later recovered from Topaz’s phone corroborated their plans. On May 21, 2015, Saadeh and Topaz discussed
that they needed to “lay low” and refrain from taking action in furtherance of
the conspiracy to provide material support to ISIL that might be detected by
law enforcement. Saadeh and Topaz also
discussed needing to meet in person to discuss “hijra.” Topaz later told members of the JTTF that he
and his conspirators used the term “hijra” (often spelled “hijrah”) to refer to
traveling overseas to join ISIL. The
next day, Saadeh told another individual that he suspected that CC-2 or Topaz
had “snitched” on CC-1 and caused his arrest overseas, and that, if true,
Saadeh thought he would have to “kill someone.”
In recorded conversations with an informant, Saadeh revealed
his support for ISIL, including the terrorist organization’s use of beheadings
and mass killings to impose its violent agenda.
Saadeh also stated that he planned to travel overseas with CC-2 “at some
point.” Saadeh further stated that he
knew CC-1 planned to travel to join ISIL before CC-1 departed the United
States, and that he bought CC-1’s airline ticket despite knowing this. The investigation revealed that Saadeh
provided CC-1 transportation and removed a SIM card from CC-1’s phone in an
apparent effort hide incriminating communications and other data.
In June, after becoming aware that he was under FBI
surveillance, Saadeh directed an individual in New Jersey not to tell the FBI
about CC-1’s support for ISIL or CC-1’s plans to travel to Syria and Iraq to
join ISIL. Saadeh instructed the
individual to “play dumb” and be “honest up to a point,” but to be sure not to
tell the FBI anything about ISIL.
Each count in the complaint carries a maximum potential
penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and JTTF. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorneys L. Judson Welle, Dennis C. Carletta and Francisco J. Navarro of
the District of New Jersey, with the assistance of Trial Attorney Robert Sander
of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The charge and allegations contained in the complaint are
merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
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