WASHINGTON – An Illinois man was sentenced today to 162 months, the equivalent of 13 ½ years, in prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS), a foreign terrorist organization.
Edward Schimenti, 39, of Zion was convicted by a federal jury in 2019 on one count of conspiring to provide material support and resources to ISIS, and one count of making false statements to the FBI. According to court documents, Schimenti advocated on social media for violent extremism in support of the terrorist group. In 2015, Schimenti began meeting with undercover FBI employees and individuals who, unbeknownst to Schimenti, were cooperating with law enforcement. During the meetings, Schimenti discussed his devotion to ISIS and his commitment to ISIS principles.
In 2017, Schimenti 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, Schimenti 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.
Co-defendant, Joseph D. Jones, 39, of Zion was also convicted of a conspiracy charge and sentenced last month to 12 years in federal prison.
U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois, Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and Special Agent in Charge Emmerson Buie Jr. of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office made the announcement.
The Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of numerous federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Jonas and David Rojas of the Northern District of Illinois and Trial Attorney Alexandra S. Hughes of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.
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