Suburban Chicago Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison for Attempting to Detonate Explosive Device in Downtown Chicago

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man was sentenced today to 16 years in federal prison for attempting to detonate an explosive device at a bar in downtown Chicago.

ADEL DAOUD, 25, of Hillside, Ill., attempted to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound car bomb at a popular bar in the downtown Loop neighborhood of Chicago on Sept. 14, 2012.  Prior to the evening of the planned attack, Daoud had been preaching for violent jihad and expressed an interest in working with operational terrorists.  He researched and created a list of potential Chicago-area targets, which included movie theaters, bars and nightclubs, a suburban mall, and military recruiting centers.  Unbeknownst to Daoud, the explosive device at the Loop bar was inert and had been constructed by bomb technicians from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Daoud was arrested on the scene after twice attempting to detonate the purported bomb.  He has been in federal custody since then.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman imposed the sentence in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Jonas and Tiffany Ardam of the Northern District of Illinois, with assistance by Trial Attorney Bridget Behling of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

“Protecting our national security is the Department of Justice’s top priority,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prevent, disrupt, and defeat terrorist operations before they occur.”

“The conviction and sentencing of Adel Daoud are evidence of the FBI’s commitment to working vigilantly with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to prevent violent attacks before they occur,” said SAC Sallet.  “This investigation would not have been possible without the joint efforts of our law enforcement community.  As long as terrorists threaten the security of our nation, we will unite to shield our citizens from harm.  Our message to terrorists is clear: We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will bring you to justice.”

The attempted bombing was one of three cases against Daoud to be resolved today as part of the sentencing order.  While he was jailed for attempting to detonate the bomb, Daoud in late 2012 solicited his cellmate to have a violent gang member murder an FBI agent who had posed undercover as a terrorist during the investigation.  The murder-for-hire plot was not carried out, and the FBI agent was not injured.  The third case against Daoud involved a violent assault on a fellow jail inmate in 2015.  While incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, Daoud attacked an inmate who had drawn what Daoud felt was an insulting picture of the prophet Mohammad.  The inmate suffered lacerations on his head and a bite mark on an arm.

New York man denies making false statements involving international terrorism

MISSOULA—A New York City man arrested in April at a Bozeman shooting range today denied charges that he made false statements to the FBI in a terrorism investigation, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Fabjan Alameti, 21, of the Bronx, who had recently traveled to Bozeman from New York, pleaded not guilty to a four-count indictment charging him with three counts of false statements to a federal officer in a matter involving terrorism and one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of a controlled substance.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch conducted the arraignment and ordered Alameti be detained pending further proceedings. A detention hearing is set for May 15.

If convicted of the most serious crime, Alameti faces a maximum 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.

Alameti has been in custody since April 3, 2019, when FBI agents arrested him at a shooting range in Bozeman after he allegedly took possession of an M1A firearm he had rented.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Starnes and Trial Attorney Rebecca Magnone, from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, are prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI.

St. Louis County Woman Pleads Guilty to Providing Material Support to Terrorists

St. Louis, MO – Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 39, of St. Louis County, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.  Sedina Unkic Hodzic appeared today before Judge Catherine D. Perry who accepted her plea and set her sentencing for August 9, 2019.  U.S. Attorney Jeffrey B. Jensen for the Eastern District of Missouri, Special Agent in Charge Richard Quinn of the FBI’s St. Louis Division and Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers made the announcement.

Charged in the indictment are: Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, and Armin Harcevic, all of St. Louis County, Missouri, Nihad Rosic, of Utica, New York, and Mediha Medy Salkicevic, of Schiller Park, Illinois. All defendants are charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, and with providing material support to terrorists.  Ramiz Zijad Hodzic and Nihad Rosic are also charged with conspiring to murder and maim persons in a foreign country.  Armin Harcevic pleaded guilty on February 25, 2019, and Mediha Medy Salkicevic pleaded guilty on March 21, 2019.  Ramiz Zijad Hodzic pleaded guilty on April 3, 2019.  The remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.  As is always the case, charges set forth in the indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Sedina Unkic Hodzic faces up to 15 years imprisonment and/or fines of up to $250,000.  In determining the actual sentence, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.

This case was investigated by the St. Louis FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Postal Inspection Service, St. Louis Metropolitan and St. Louis County Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Drake, Howard Marcus and Kenneth Tihen of the Eastern District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Joshua Champagne of the Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section.