Yahoo Movies Michigan man convicted of joining ISIS in Syria, faces 50 years in prison
A Michigan man faces up to 50 years in prison after a jury convicted him Monday of supporting the terrorist group ISIS, the U.S Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
The verdict comes nearly five years after Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli, a Dearborn, Michigan native, was initially charged.
After a nine-day trial, a jury unanimously found Musaibli guilty of three charges levied against him, prosecutors said.
Musaibli joined ISIS in Syria
ISIS, or Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, shocked the world in the mid 2010s when its forces took control over large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
At its peak in 2014, the group ruled over almost one-third of Iraq and Syria's territory.
Federal prosecutors alleged Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli traveled in Oct. 2015 to Syria, where he participated in an ISIS religious training camp and learned how to shoot and handle a machine gun in a military training camp.
He then swore allegiance to the group and remained with it until his capture two years later.
The 32-year-old was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of U.S.-backed rebels, in 2018. He was then turned over to the FBI, the DOJ said.
The New York Times reported that Musaibli was transported to the U.S. on the same flight as Samantha Marie Elhassani, an American woman who in 2020 was convicted of financing ISIS. Her husband was an ISIS fighter.
Musaibli went by various aliases including "Abu shifa Musaibli" and "Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Yemeni"
Musaibli was one of 83 known American adults who traveled to Syria and/or Iraq to join jihadist groups since 2011, according to George Washington University.
The charges
The jury found Musaibli guilty on three of four counts:
Count one: Attempting provide material support to a designated terrorist organization and providing material support to a designated terrorist organization.
Count two: Conspiracy to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.
Count four: Receiving military-type training from a foreign terrorist organization.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michigan man who joined ISIS faces 50 years in prison after conviction
