Agron Hasbajrami, 31, an Albanian citizen and resident of
Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for attempting and
conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement,
Hasbajrami will be removed from the United States at the conclusion of his
sentence. The sentencing proceeding was
held before U.S. District Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New
York.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P.
Carlin, Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly T. Currie of the Eastern District of New
York, Assistant Director in Charge Diego G. Rodriguez of the FBI New York Field
Office and Commissioner William J. Bratton of the New York City Police
Department (NYPD) made the announcement.
As stated during the guilty plea and sentencing proceedings,
and according to court filings, in September 2011, Hasbajrami attempted to
travel to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (the FATA) for
the purpose of joining a radical jihadist insurgent group. In addition, he sent over $1,000 in multiple
wire transfers abroad to support terrorist activities in Pakistan and
Afghanistan. In pursuing his goal of
fighting jihad, the defendant exchanged email messages with an individual in
Pakistan who said he was a member of an armed group that had murdered American
soldiers and kidnapped Westerners. In
one email message, Hasbajrami stated that it was difficult to ask for money
from fellow Muslims because they became apprehensive “when they hear it is for
jihad.” In another email, he stated that
he wished to travel overseas, using jihadist rhetoric to describe his desire to
die as a martyr.
On Sept. 5, 2011, Hasbajrami purchased a one-way airline
ticket to travel to Turkey the following day.
Based on Hasbajrami’s email communications, he intended to travel from
Turkey to the FATA to join a jihadist group.
On Sept. 6, 2011, the defendant was arrested at John F. Kennedy
International Airport. At the time of
his arrest, he was carrying a tent, boots and cold weather gear. A search of the defendant’s residence
revealed, among other items, a note reading “Do not wait for invasion, the time
is martyrdom time.”
“This case, like many others before it, has shown that the
application of lawful surveillance can allow the United States government to
detect and neutralize a terrorist in the United States,” said Acting U.S.
Attorney Currie. “The sentence imposed
today leaves no question as to the defendant’s role in a very serious offense
and helps ensure that he will no longer pose a threat to the United States and
our allies.”
“Hasbajrami is yet another individual in the U.S. who was
inspired to commit acts of violence in the name of jihad,” said Assistant
Director in Charge Rodriguez. “He used
technology to propagate terrorist messages and create a plan to attack U.S.
interests. Due to the excellent
collaboration and work of all our law enforcement partners on the Joint
Terrorism Task Force, we stopped his travel abroad to fight with a foreign
terrorist organization. These threats
remain among the highest priorities for the FBI and the Intelligence Community
as a whole. Through his guilty plea and
today’s sentence, once completed, he will no longer be able to remain in the
U.S. while trying to harm us.”
“The sentence imposed today sends a clear message: members
of Manhattan-based Joint Terrorism Task Force will work tirelessly to uncover
and stop any efforts to provide material
support to organizations built to kill Americans,” said Commissioner Bratton.
Assistant Attorney General Carlin joined Acting U.S.
Attorney Currie in thanking the federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies who participate in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D.
DuCharme, Saritha Komatireddy, Peter Baldwin and Matthew Amatruda of the
Eastern District of New York, and Trial Attorney Danya Atiyeh of the National
Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
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