LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A Michigan man captured on a Syrian battlefield will spend 14 years in prison on terrorism charges. Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli, 32, was convicted of providing and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), and of attending an ISIS training camp.
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“This defendant chose to join a brutal, foreign terrorist organization and then to fight against the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison. “For his betrayal of our nation and his fellow citizens, he is deserving of a long sentence.”
Evidence from the trial established that Musaibli began researching ISIS in 2015, while he resided in Michigan. He traveled to Yemen later that year, where he downloaded several ISIS publications. He then entered Syria in the fall of 2015, where he attended ISIS-run religious and military training. Upon graduating, Musaibli swore allegiance to ISIS and its leader.
“ISIS assigned him to a military fighting battalion, and Musaibli spent at least nine months fighting on the front lines,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon.
In 2018, Musaibli was captured by Syrian Democratic Forces and turned over to the FBI. His case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and prosecuted by attorneys from the Eastern District of Michigan.
“This case is a reminder of the danger posed by those who travel overseas to join forces with terrorist groups,” said James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “The sentence imposed on Mr. Musaibli is a clear reminder to others of the consequences of providing material support to ISIS or any foreign terrorist organization.”
Musaibli’s lawyers claimed he was an ineffective supporter of the Islamic State, and that he had been “manipulated by propaganda.”
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“Mr. Musaibli saw himself as a failure,” said James Gerometta, Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Michigan. “Like many young men looking for redemption, he thought heroic glory on the battlefield would earn him the respect of his family and others.”
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