Adam Raishani, a/k/a “Saddam Mohamed Raishani,” Attempted to
Travel to Syria to Join ISIS and Facilitated Another Man’s Travel to Join ISIS
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, and John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney
General for National Security, announced that ADAM RAISHANI, a/k/a “Saddam
Mohamed Raishani,” was sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempting to
provide and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq
and al-Sham (“ISIS”). RAISHANI pled guilty
to a Superseding Information on November 14, 2018, before U.S. District Judge
Ronnie Abrams, who also imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Adam Raishani may be a U.S. citizen, but he
pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, the terrorist
organization that seeks to destroy the ideals inherent to America. In his efforts to show support to the
organization, he helped another man make a trip to the Middle East so that he
could join and train. Then, a year
later, Raishani decided to follow him, leaving Raishani’s wife and child behind
in the United States. Thankfully law
enforcement was there to arrest him before he could make his dream of jihad a
reality. Now, Raishani will spend the
next 20 years of his life behind bars for his treachery.”
Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers said: “Raishani tried to leave his young family to
travel overseas to join ISIS.
Fortunately, he was arrested before he could leave the country. Raishani is the latest in the long line of
would-be terrorists whom we have arrested and prosecuted before they could
accomplish their mission to provide material support to ISIS overseas. I commend the agents, analysts, and
prosecutors who are responsible for this result.”
According to the Superseding Information, other court
filings, and statements made during court proceedings:
Beginning in the fall of 2015, RAISHANI conspired with
another ISIS supporter (“CC-1”) to provide material support and resources to
ISIS. RAISHANI and CC-1 agreed to travel
overseas to join and wage jihad for ISIS, with CC-1 to depart first. On October 30, 2015, CC-1 departed from JFK
Airport for Istanbul, Turkey, where he planned to cross into Syria to join and
fight for ISIS. RAISHANI helped
coordinate CC-1’s transportation from the Bronx, New York, to John F. Kennedy
International Airport (“JFK Airport”), and RAISHANI accompanied CC-1 from the
Bronx to JFK Airport.
RAISHANI continued communicating with CC-1 following CC-1’s
departure, using an encrypted email application in an effort to avoid law
enforcement detection. For example, on
January 2, 2016, RAISHANI sent an email to CC-1 stating: “Glad tidings brother. Its [sic] been some
time since your voyage. I pray to Allah
The ALL MIGHTY to grant you success.
Until next time.”[1] On April 1,
2016, RAISHANI sent another email to CC-1 stating: “I hope Allah has bestowed you what you were
seeking. . . . May Allah grant you sincere and clean intentions and make you
among the righteous in Janatal Firdaus [a reference to Islamic paradise]. . . .
Please return this email and respond to what we agreed upon before your
departure. Until next time.” On May 3, 2016, CC-1 responded to RAISHANI,
indicating that he had succeeded in joining the Islamic State. CC-1 informed RAISHANI that CC-1 was “fine
and well,” that CC-1 “wished you [RAISHANI] were here with me,” and that “here
we are living with izza [honor].”
Also in May 2016, CC-1 posted content on a particular social
media application (“Application-1”) indicating that CC-1 was living in the
Islamic State and fighting on its behalf.
For example, CC-1 sent messages to another user of Application-1
stating: “I’m living in the Islamic
state safely and secure by the permission of Allah,” “[h]ere we are fighting
the kuffars [non-believers],” and “I left the land of kuffars now I’m living in
the khilafah [the caliphate].” CC-1 also
posted a photograph on Application-1 that shows CC-1 carrying an assault rifle
and the flag of ISIS.
Between January and June of 2017, RAISHANI had a series of
meetings with individuals who were, unbeknownst to RAISHANI, a confidential
source working at the direction of law enforcement and an undercover law
enforcement officer. In the course of
those meetings, RAISHANI admitted that he had previously helped another person
(CC-1) travel overseas to join ISIS, and stated that he intended to travel
overseas to join ISIS himself. During
those meetings, RAISHANI also downloaded and viewed violent ISIS propaganda
videos, and expressed his desire to wage jihad on behalf of ISIS and his belief
that the Quran can be read to justify the violence, including beheadings,
perpetrated by ISIS.
By April 2017, RAISHANI was actively planning to travel
abroad to join ISIS. RAISHANI indicated
that he aspired to join ISIS in Syria and that he aimed to travel before the
end of Ramadan, an Islamic holy month that ran from approximately May 26
through June 24 of 2017. In June 2017,
RAISHANI made preparations to leave, including by paying off debts and
purchasing clothing that he intended to wear for training with ISIS
overseas. RAISHANI indicated his
intention to meet an ISIS member in Turkey, who would facilitate RAISHANI’s
joining the terrorist organization in Syria.
In the course of communications with an undercover law enforcement
officer, RAISHANI conveyed that he was prepared to die, to martyr himself, for
ISIS. On June 21, 2017, RAISHANI
attempted to board a flight bound for Turkey (via Portugal) at JFK Airport, at
which point law enforcement officers arrested him.
Following RAISHANI’s arrest, the FBI searched RAISHANI’s
Bronx residence pursuant to a search warrant.
Among the evidence recovered was a letter from RAISHANI addressed to
members of his family, which the FBI found in a safe in RAISHANI’s
bedroom. In the letter, RAISHANI – who
left behind his wife and young son when he attempted to travel to Syria to join
ISIS – advised his wife that she could still choose to “[j]oin” him in the
Islamic State, and he expressed regret that she did not share his radical views
and that he had been unable to convince her to accompany him to join ISIS. RAISHANI also wrote: “Do Not Divulge this document and other
documents that I have giv[en] to you to the authorities. Do not believe their plots. Do not divulge my absences but instead say I
went to do volunteering outside the country with my medical skills and health
background.”
*
* *
In addition to the prison term, RAISHANI, 32, of the Bronx,
New York, was sentenced to 20 years of supervised release.
Mr. Berman 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, and the NYPD’s Intelligence Division. Mr. Berman also thanked the Counterterrorism
Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, as well as
the New York Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
This prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism
and International Narcotics Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sidhardha Kamaraju, Jane Kim, and George D.
Turner are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney
Kevin Nunnally of the Counterterrorism Section.
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