On Wednesday, a 19-year-old South Carolina teen pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to ISIS, and he now faces up to 20 years in prison.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Zakaryia Abdin, of Ladson, attempted to travel overseas when he tried to board a plane for an international flight on March 30, 2017, but was intercepted and arrested by FBI agents, Fox 46 News reported.
Assistant Attorney General Demers said: “Abdin’s attempt to provide material support to ISIS by traveling overseas put American lives at risk. That is unacceptable, and I applaud the dedicated agents and prosecutors who stopped him and have achieved this successful outcome.”
On Jan. 3, 2017, Abdin made a social media account to try and join ISIS.
#BREAKING UPDATE: 19-year-old Zakaryia Abdin, of Ladson, SC, pleaded guilty today to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. https://t.co/4lgtpHaO6E
— FOX 46 Charlotte (@FOX46News) August 8, 2018
On Jan. 20, 2017, he met with a special agent from the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Mount Pleasant to conduct an interview.
It was clearly laid out by the agent about the FBI’s role in conducting counterterrorism investigations.
An explanation of who ISIS is and what they stand for was clearly explained to Abdin and also that it is illegal to support ISIS in any way, Fox 46 reported.
Shortly after that interview, Abdin initiated an overseas trip to Syria or Egypt after reaching out to a handler.
The handler was an undercover FBI employee, whom Abdin thought was someone connected with ISIS.
Abdin continued corresponding with the undercover agent until March 30, 2017, when he was arrested.
Abdin had made flight reservations to land in Amman, Jordan.
Abdin arrived at the Charleston International Airport and went to the airline ticket counter, showed his documents to board the plane for international travel, and when he approached the Transportation Security Administration’s security screening area, he was arrested.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
