BIRMINGHAM – U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon today
sentenced a Huntsville man to 15 years in prison followed by a lifetime of
supervised release for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic
State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist
organization.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C.
Demers, U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp
Jr. announced the sentence.
AZIZ IHAB SAYYED, 23, pleaded guilty in March to the
terrorism charge. He acknowledged that he bought bomb-building ingredients in
2017, that he stated his aspirations to conduct ISIS-inspired attacks on police
stations and Redstone Arsenal, and that he attempted to form a cell to conduct
violent acts within the United States.
“We will
not tolerate threats to our national security from terrorist groups like ISIS,
which continues to radicalize and encourage terrorists through the internet,”
Demers said. “The defendant, a citizen of this country, plotted to carry out attacks
on his fellow Americans in our country, but was thwarted by the close
cooperation of our partners in law enforcement. This successful outcome should
send a clear message to any other would-be terrorists that the National
Security Division will find them and bring them to justice.”
“Aziz
Sayyed was inspired by ISIS to kill or harm Americans and he has earned every
bit of his prison term,” Town said. “This case, and this investigation, serves
as the gold standard for what is possible when federal, state and local law
enforcement agencies work together. The FBI did an outstanding job ensuring
this investigation was successful by cultivating those layers of law
enforcement necessary in cases like this.”
“The FBI’s
Joint Terrorism Task Force is dedicated to identifying and bringing to justice
those individuals who attempt to provide material support to foreign terrorist
organizations, promote violent extremism, and threaten our national security,”
Sharp said. “Today’s sentence is a culmination of the tireless efforts of our
JTTF, and the invaluable partnership we have with the Huntsville Police
Department.”
According to Sayyed’s plea agreement with the government, he
attempted to provide services and personnel, namely himself, to ISIS, knowing
that the group is a designated foreign terrorist organization
Between January and June of 2017 in Madison County, Sayyed,
a U.S. citizen, obtained and viewed ISIS propaganda videos depicting ISIS
forces committing bombings, executions by gunshot and beheading, and other
violent acts. Sayyed shared the videos and expressed his support for ISIS and
for ISIS terrorist attacks around the world, according to his plea agreement.
Sayyed researched and learned how to make triacetone
triperoxide (TATP), a highly volatile and extremely dangerous explosive
material. He then purchased the necessary ingredients for the explosive and
professed his aspiration to use TATP in an explosive belt or a car bomb.
On June 13, 2017, Sayyed met with an individual he understood
to be an ISIS member. In fact, the person was an undercover employee of the
FBI. Sayyed and the undercover employee discussed the danger of TATP, ISIS’s
preference for the use of certain explosives, and Sayyed’s desire to assist
ISIS, according to the plea agreement. In that meeting, Sayyed offered to
personally carry out attacks on behalf of ISIS.
The FBI investigated the case in conjunction with the
Huntsville Police Department, Madison County District Attorney’s Office,
Madison County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Army 902 MI Group, Redstone Arsenal’s
Garrison Command, University of Alabama at Huntsville Police Department,
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry Cornelius and Davis Barlow
prosecuted the case with the assistance of Trial Attorney Joseph Attias of the
National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
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