On Wednesday, a judge sentenced an Ohio man to 16 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to supporting ISIS in June 2015.
Amir Said Rahman Al-Ghazi, 41, who changed his name from Robert McCollum, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and two counts of being in possession of firearms.
Sheffield Lake man sentenced to 16 years for supporting ISIS https://t.co/A7I0PNhmtu pic.twitter.com/KRUfgaYoM7
— fox8news (@fox8news) June 21, 2018
Al-Ghazi pledged his support to ISIL on social media in 2014, then tried to recruit others to join him, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
After Al-Ghazi posted violent extremist statements on his public Facebook profile and pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), the FBI got involved, Fox 8 reported.
Al-Ghazi conversed with two people he believed were members of ISIL in the Middle East and told them he wanted to commit terrorist attacks on the United States, the FBI said.
“This case is a stark reminder that ISIS is more than an abstract threat. Through social media and other means, ISIS and groups like it seek to radicalize people of all backgrounds into its world of violence,” said U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman for the Northern District of Ohio.
