Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former member of the Army National
Guard, was arrested on July 3 for attempting to provide material support to the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
According to the complaint, Jalloh is alleged to have attempted to provide
services by assisting in the procurement of weapons to be used in what he
believed was going to be an attack on U.S. soil committed in the name of
ISIL. In addition, the complaint alleges
that Jalloh attempted to provide material support to ISIL by providing money to
assist in the facilitation of individuals seeking to join ISIL.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P.
Carlin, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia and
Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field
Office made the announcement. Jalloh
will make his initial appearance today at 2 p.m. EDT before U.S. Magistrate
Judge John F. Anderson of the Eastern District of Virginia.
According to court documents and court proceedings, in March
2016, a now-deceased member of ISIL brokered an introduction between Jalloh,
26, of Sterling, Virginia, and an individual in the United States who actually
was an FBI confidential human source (CHS).
The ISIL member was actively plotting an attack in the United States and
believed the attack would be carried out with the assistance of Jalloh and the
CHS.
According to court documents, Jalloh met with the CHS on two
occasions in April and May 2016. During
the April meeting, Jalloh told the CHS that he was a former member of the Army
National Guard, but that he had decided to quit after listening to online
lectures by Anwar al-Aulaqi, a deceased leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula. Jalloh stated that he
recently had taken a six-month trip to Africa, where he had met with ISIL
members in Nigeria and first began communicating online with the ISIL member
who later brokered his introduction to the CHS.
During their meeting, Jalloh also told the CHS that he often
thought about conducting an attack and that he knew how to shoot guns. Jalloh praised the gunman who killed five
U.S. military members in a terrorist attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July
2015, and stated that he had been thinking about conducting an attack similar
to the November 2009 attack at Ft. Hood, Texas.
During the May 2016 meeting, Jalloh asked the CHS about the
timeline for an operation and commented that it was better to plan an operation
for the month of Ramadan. Jalloh also
asked if the CHS could assist him in providing a donation to ISIL. Ultimately, Jalloh provided a prepaid cash
transfer of $500 to a contact of the CHS that Jalloh believed was a member of
ISIL, but who was in fact an undercover FBI employee.
In June 2016, Jalloh travelled to North Carolina and made
multiple unsuccessful attempts to obtain firearms. On July 2, Jalloh went to a gun dealership in
northern Virginia, where he purchased and test-fired a Stag Arms assault
rifle. Unbeknownst to Jalloh, the rifle
was rendered inoperable before he left the dealership with the weapon. Jalloh was arrested the following day and the
FBI seized the rifle.
The criminal complaint charges Jalloh with attempting to
provide material support and resources to ISIL, a designated foreign terrorist
organization. If convicted, Jalloh faces
a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided
here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be
determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other
statutory factors.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field
Office Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Gibbs of the Eastern District of
Virginia is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Trial Attorney Jolie
Zimmerman of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
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