Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern
District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New
York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and William
J. Bratton, the Commissioner of the Police Department for the City of New York
(“NYPD”), announced that AHMED MOHAMMED EL GAMMAL, a/k/a “Jammie Gammal,” was
indicted today for providing, and conspiring to provide, material support to
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (“ISIL”), a designated foreign
terrorist organization, as well as for aiding and abetting the receipt of
military-type training from ISIL and conspiring to receive such training. EL
GAMMAL was arrested on Monday in Avondale, Arizona, and presented in federal
court in the District of Arizona, pursuant to a criminal complaint that was
unsealed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. The case is assigned to Judge
Edgardo Ramos of United States District Court for the Southern District of New
York.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged,
Ahmed Mohammed el Gammal actively touted online his support for ISIL and its
terrorist ways, ultimately meeting and assisting a New York college student to
travel to Syria to obtain military training from ISIL. Individuals like Gammal
who allegedly serve as facilitators for ISIL fuel the hatred and radicalization
that keep terrorist organizations like ISIL alive.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Diego Rodriguez said: “As
alleged, Gammal helped a college student in New York receive terrorist training
in Syria through a contact in Turkey, in order to support ISIL. These
relationships were allegedly made and solidified through the Internet while
Gammal was in Arizona. This is another example of how social media is utilized
for nefarious and criminal purposes around the world. The identification of the
conspiracy, and arrest today, demonstrate how federal and local law enforcement
continue to work together to mitigate such threats globally and protect the
United States.”
NYPD Commissioner William Bratton said: “This investigation demonstrates
how easily people can support a terrorist organization without ever meeting,
from the anonymity of their own computer and hidden behind obscure social media
accounts and the veil of the Internet. I commend the detectives and agents on
the Manhattan based Joint Terrorism Task Force and the prosecutors of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District for their unwavering commitment to
keeping our city safe.”
As alleged in the criminal Complaint unsealed yesterday and
the Indictment filed today in Manhattan federal court1:
In August 2014, a 24-year-old New York City resident
(“CC-1”) who was growing increasingly radicalized learned via social media that
EL GAMMAL had posted social media comments supportive of ISIL. Minutes later,
CC-1 contacted EL GAMMAL. Over the next several months, CC-1 and EL GAMMAL
continued corresponding over the Internet, although CC-1 deleted many of these
exchanges.
In the midst of these communications, in October 2014, EL
GAMMAL traveled to Manhattan, where CC-1 was enrolled in college, and contacted
and met with CC-1. While in New York City, EL GAMMAL also contacted another
co-conspirator (“CC-2”), who lived in Turkey, about CC-1’s plans to travel to
the Middle East. EL GAMMAL later provided CC-1 with social media contact
information for CC-2. Thereafter, EL GAMMAL and CC-2 had multiple social media
exchanges about CC-1 traveling to the Middle East. In addition, CC-1 began
communicating with CC-2, introducing himself as a friend of “Gammal’s.”
In late January 2015, CC-1 abruptly left New York City for
Istanbul, Turkey. After CC-1 arrived in Turkey, EL GAMMAL continued to
communicate with him over the Internet, providing advice on traveling toward
Syria and on meeting with CC-2. After CC-1 arrived in Syria, he received
military-type training from ISIL between early February and at least early May
2015.
On May 7, 2015, CC-1 reported to EL GAMMAL that “everything
[was] going according to plan.”
* * *
EL GAMMAL, 42, of Avondale, Arizona, is charged with one
count of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist
organization and one count of conspiring to provide material support to a
designated foreign terrorist organization, each of which carries a maximum
sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of receiving military-type training
from a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a mandatory
sentence of 10 years in prison; and one count of conspiring to receive
military-type training from a designated foreign terrorist organization, which
carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential
sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for
informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be
determined by a judge
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s New
York Joint Terrorism Task Force – which principally consists of agents from the
FBI and detectives from the NYPD. Mr. Bharara also thanked the Counterterrorism
Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, and the Phoenix Field Office of
the FBI for their assistance.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism
and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brendan F. Quigley,
Negar Tekeei, and Andrea L. Surratt are in charge of the prosecution, with
assistance from Trial Attorney Ranganath Manthripragada of the National
Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The charges contained in the Complaint and the Indictment
are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
1As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the
texts of the Complaint and the Indictment and the descriptions of the Complaint
and the Indictment set forth below constitute only allegations, and every fact
described should be treated as an allegation.
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