WASHINGTON – An Illinois man was sentenced today to 12 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham, a foreign terrorist organization (aka ISIS).
Joseph D. Jones, 38, of Zion, Illinois, was convicted by a federal jury on one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to ISIS in 2019. According to court documents, Jones advocated on social media for violent extremism in support of the terrorist group. In 2015, Jones began meeting with undercover FBI employees and individuals who, unbeknownst to Jones, were cooperating with law enforcement. During the meetings, Jones discussed his devotion to ISIS and his commitment to ISIS principles.
In 2017, Jones furnished cellular phones to one of the cooperating individuals, believing the phones would be used to detonate explosive devices in ISIS attacks overseas. On April 7, 2017, Jones drove with the cooperating individual to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, with the understanding that the cooperating individual would be traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS.
A co-defendant, Edward Schimenti, 39, of Zion, Illinois, was also convicted of the conspiracy charge, as well as a charge of making false statements to the FBI. U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood set sentencing for Schimenti for April 9, 2021 at 12:30 p.m.
U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois; Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; and Special Agent-in-Charge Emmerson Buie Jr. of the FBI Chicago Field Office made the announcement.
The Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force comprised of numerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Alexandra S. Hughes of the Justice Department’s National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Jonas and David Rojas of the Northern District of Illinois prosecuted the case.
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