A Manassas teen was sentenced to 11 years in jail today, after assisting the Islamic State in Iraq (ISIS).
Ali Shukri Amin, the 17-year old Manassas boy, was sentenced after being convicted of conspiring to provide support and resources to ISIS, according to a U.S. Justice Department release.
“Today’s sentencing demonstrates that those who use social media as a tool to provide support and resources to ISIL will be identified and prosecuted with no less vigilance than those who travel to take up arms with ISIL. The Department of Justice will continue to pursue those that travel to fight against the United States and our allies, as well as those individuals that recruit others on behalf of ISIL in the homeland,” said U.S. Eastern District of Virginia Attorney Dana Boente, according to a release.
Boente stated that ISIS has been using social media to recruit individuals and spread their message.
Amin was a student at Osborne Park High School in Manassas.
According to Prince William County Police Department Chief Steve Hudson, school staff had said Amin had exhibited some warning signs with suspicious behavior.
“Observations made by school staff and subsequent follow-up by the School Resource Officer were some of the earlier indicators of suspicious behavior regarding this individual,” stated Hudson in a release.
Amin pled guilty to all charges on June 11, according to a release.
More from a U.S. Justice Department release:
According to court documents, Amin admitted to using Twitter to provide advice and encouragement to ISIL and its supporters. Amin, who used the Twitter handle @Amreekiwitness, provided instruction on how to use Bitcoin, a virtual currency, to mask the provision of funds to ISIL, as well as facilitation to ISIL supporters seeking to travel to Syria to fight with ISIL. Additionally, Amin admitted that he facilitated travel for Reza Niknejad, an 18-year-old Prince William County resident who traveled to Syria to join ISIL in January 2015. Niknejad was charged on June 10, 2015, in the Eastern District of Virginia with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, conspiring to provide material support to ISIL, and conspiring to kill and injure people abroad.
U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton presided over the case and delivered the sentence. This case was investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Ben’Ary and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline H. Friedman prosecuted the case. Substantial assistance was provided by Trial Attorney Stephen Sewell of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
