A Harrisburg, Pa., man on Monday pleaded guilty to multiple counts of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.
Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz, 20, entered the plea before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He also pleaded guilty to transmitting a communication containing a threat to injure and solicitation to commit a crime.
“Jalil Ibn Ameer Aziz conspired to provide material support to ISIL by aiding individuals in their pursuit of traveling overseas to join the designated foreign terrorist organization and by using social media to propagate ISIL’s threats to injure U.S. service members,” acting assistant attorney general for national security Mary B. McCord said in a statement.
Aziz was charged by indictment in December 2015 with two counts of conspiring and attempting to aid the Islamic State terrorist group. A superseding indictment — rendered in May 2016 — added solicitation to commit a crime of violence as the third count and the communication charge as the fourth count.
Prosecutors said the defendant engaged in these acts from July 2014 through December 2015. Aziz also solicited, commanded, induced and endeavored others to kill and attempt to kill U.S. officers and employees by sharing on Twitter a list that contained personal information for 100 service members, according to the superseding indictment.
Aziz employed 71 Twitter accounts to share his pro-Islamic State message, prosecutors said. Following his arrest, law enforcement found five loaded M4-style high-capacity magazines, a modified straight edge knife and other supplies for an attack in his closet.
The first two counts each carry up to 20 years prison time, $250,000 fines and a term of supervised release of up to life.
The communication crime could carry up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release. The Justice Department’s release did not include sentencing information for the third charge for solicitation.
