Tuesday, April 30, 2019

DOD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Pfc. Michael A. Thomason, 28, from Lincoln Park, Michigan, died April 29, 2019, in Kobani, Syria, of wounds sustained from a non-combat incident.

Thomason was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

For more information regarding Pfc. Michael A. Thomason, media may contact Lt. Col. Martin L. O'Donnell, public affairs officer, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at 931-217-5074 or martin.l.odonnell.mil@mail.mil.

Thursday, April 25, 2019

DOD Identifies Army Casualty


The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Spc. Michael T. Osorio, 20, from Horseshoe Bend, Idaho, died April 23, 2019, in Taji, Iraq, in a non combat related incident. The incident is under investigation.

Osorio was assigned to 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

For more information regarding Spc. Michael T. Osorio, members of the media may contact the Fort Carson Public Affairs Office at 719-526-7525.  After hours, contact the 24-hour Fort Carson Operations Center at 719-526-5500 and ask for the on-call public affairs officer.

Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Milwaukee Man Convicted Of Aiding and Abetting An Attempt to Provide Material Support to ISIS


Matthew D. Krueger, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on April 22, 2019, Yosvany Padilla-Conde, of Milwaukee, pled guilty to aiding and abetting Jason Luedke’s attempt to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization – i.e., the Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and al’Sham (ISIS), and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) – in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2339B(a)(1).

Padilla-Conde is a Cuban national who resided in Milwaukee at the time of the offense. He agreed to assist and did assist Jason Ludke in Ludke’s attempt to join ISIS by traveling from Wisconsin through Mexico to Syria and Iraq. Ludke and Padilla-Conde knew that ISIS engaged in terrorist activity. Padilla-Conde also swore allegiance to ISIS and expressed his intent to travel to the Middle East in videos that an undercover employee (“UCE”) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and Ludke requested that he make. The videos were sent to the UCE, who Padilla-Conde believed was an ISIS recruiter. On October 5, 2016, Ludke and his coconspirator were traveling to the Texas/Mexico border in order to accomplish their plan to join ISIS, when law enforcement located and arrested them.

Ludke was convicted of conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization – i.e., ISIS – in 2018. He is currently incarcerated.

“National security is the Department of Justice’s first priority,” said U.S. Attorney Krueger. “Our commitment to national security means working to prevent acts of violence before they occur. Padilla-Conde swore allegiance to an extremely violent terrorist organization and then traveled across the country in an attempt to join it. This case underscores that homegrown violent extremism remains a very real threat. The case also highlights excellent collaboration by federal and local law enforcement to blunt the threat before innocent lives are taken.”

Acting Special Agent in Charge Michelle Sutphin, said “Protecting Americans from terrorist threats is the highest priority of the FBI.  We are dedicated to working around the clock, here in Wisconsin, with our Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) partners at the local, state and federal level to keep our community safe from those seeking to provide support and resources to a known foreign terrorist organization.”

Padilla-Conde faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty years, a maximum term of supervised release of life, and a maximum fine of $250,000. His sentencing is set for August 7, 2019 1:30 pm before Judge Lynn Adelman.

This conviction is the result of an extensive investigation by the FBI’s Milwaukee Field Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin Taibleson and Trial Attorney Joseph Attias of the National Security Division.