Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 21, of Bolingbrook, Illinois, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison and 20 years supervised release, for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, by attempting to travel overseas to Syria to join ISIL.
The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon for the Northern District of Illinois and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office.
(Learn More, courtesy of Wochit News and YouTube)
U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. imposed the 40-month prison term and ordered that it be followed by 20 years of intensive supervised release.
Among the special terms of supervised release:
- Khan must participate in a mental health treatment program;
- Consent at any time to a search by a probation officer or designated law enforcement official of his home, property and electronic communication devices in his possession and control;
- Attend violent extremism counseling; and comply with the requirements of a computer monitoring program, which includes the installation of computer-monitoring software on all devices in Khan’s possession and control that are capable of accessing the Internet
Pursuant to the plea agreement, Khan agreed to fully and truthfully cooperate in any matter in which he is called upon by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Khan, a U.S. citizen from southwest suburban Bolingbrook, has been detained in federal custody since his arrest on Oct. 4, 2014, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. Khan pleaded guilty to these charges in 2015.
According to his plea agreement, beginning no later than about February 2014, Khan used the internet to obtain introductions to ISIL members in Syria and to assist him with traveling there to join the terrorist group.
Khan admitted to then speaking with ISIL members to coordinate the logistics of his admission into ISIL-controlled territory.
(CNN’s Anderson Cooper speaks to the parents of 19-year-old Mohammed Hamzah Khan, who is accused of trying to support the terror group ISIS. Courtesy of CNN and YouTube)
Khan further admitted in the plea agreement that he knew ISIL had been designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization.
Khan intended to work in Syria under the direction and control of ISIL, and to be under the requirement to take any assignment ISIL gave him.
The case was investigated by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The Chicago JTTF is comprised of FBI special agents, the Chicago Police Department officers and representatives from an additional 20 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, and the Illinois State Police provided significant assistance in the investigation.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Hiller, Angel Krull and Sean Driscoll of the Northern District of Illinois, and Trial Attorney Michael Dittoe of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
