A New York man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for attempting to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State, according to the Justice Department.
Ali Saleh, 28, swore an oath of allegiance to ISIS in 2013, embracing ISIS’s directive to either travel to the Middle East or take action at home in support of ISIS, including giving money to support others to join ISIS, vocally supporting the group online, and hiding fireworks containing explosive powder in his car, the Justice Department said. In addition to his 30-year prison sentence, Saleh was also sentenced to 100 months imprisonment for assaulting a federal correctional officer in 2018, according to the documents.
“With the sentences handed down today, he is being held accountable for these crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen. “The National Security Division is committed to identifying and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations, and we will be unyielding in our efforts to bring to justice those who commit violence against the men and women in law enforcement and corrections. I want to thank the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case.”
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In July 2015, Saleh bought fireworks containing approximately 1,196 grams of low explosive powder and hid them in his car, the documents show. Law enforcement agents located a cellphone belonging to Saleh when he acquired the explosive powder and found an electronic pamphlet on the phone, which gave detailed instructions on how to create a bomb using explosive powder from fireworks, and Saleh posted these instructions online, the documents reveal.
When Saleh was denied the ability to travel from New York to Turkey on Aug. 28, 2014, because his parents took away his passport, he then facilitated others’ support of ISIS, including sending a $500 wire transfer to fund one person’s travel to Syria in October 2014, according to the documents.
After Saleh was arrested at his home in September 2015, agents searching the property found paper copies of an itinerary and Turkish visa issued in Saleh’s name for his September 2014 attempt to travel, as well as a duffel bag containing flashlights, headlamps, and a black trunk containing 29 machetes, according to the department.
Saleh was detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, after his arrest, where he was cited on more than 90 separate occasions for disciplinary infractions, the Justice Department said. On one occasion in 2018, Saleh slashed an officer with an improvised knife, telling the officer, “I hope you die,” officials claimed.
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Saleh pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal correctional officer and possessing contraband in June 2019, and his 100-month prison sentence will run consecutive to his 30-year terrorism sentence, the department stated.
