A Virginia man was sentenced on Friday to 102 months in prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State and for attempting to travel to Syria to join the terrorist organization.
Joseph Hassan Farrokh, 29, colluded with another man to join the Islamic State together. Both men agreed Farrokh would travel first and the other man would follow him on a later day. According to the Department of Justice, the men spoke in detail about their travel and the various routes they intended to pursue to Syria. The other man, Mahmoud Amin Elhassan, was indicted in May.
“Farrokh’s state of mind and conduct in this case were egregious and go to the heart of the safety of our community and the nation,” said U.S. Attorney Dana Boente. “This office 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.”
The DOJ said the men expressed their support of the Islamic State and violent jihad openly. The men allegedly communicated using apps they thought were not monitored by law enforcement detection, in an attempt to prevent disclosing their plans.
Both men agreed they needed a third person to facilitate their journey to Syria to join the Islamic State. Elhassan is accused of contacting various people worldwide and documents say both men met with people they believed would assist their travels.
They discussed ways to deter detection from law enforcement. Farrokh shaved his beard and flew out of Richmond International Airport because he thought there would be less security, for example. Farrokh told his family he was studying in Saudi Arabia.
Elhassan allegedly drove Farrokh to Richmond, where Farrokh then took a cab to the Richmond airport. After checking in for his flight and going through security, he was arrested on his way to the departure gate.
“Joseph Farrokh admitted to attempting to travel to Syria to join and fight with ISIL in support of its oppressive, violent and criminal agenda,” said Paul Abbate, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office. “Thanks to the relentless work of agents, analysts and prosecutors, together with the essential contributions of our partners in the Joint Terrorism Task Force, we were able to disrupt those plans and bring him to justice. The FBI’s highest priority remains preventing terrorist attacks and combating terrorism here in the U.S. and around world.”
The FBI has recently said fewer Americans are leaving the U.S. to join the Islamic State, but FBI director James Comey is still concerned because the reason is ambiguous.
“It could also be something that involves people staying home to try and do something on behalf of the Islamic State,” he said on Thursday to the House Homeland Security Committee.
Additionally, Comey said he was concerned terrorists would leave Islamic State territory as the regime loses land from military strikes.
“We all know, there will be a terrorist diaspora out of the caliphate as military force crushes the caliphate,” Comey said. “Those thousands of fighters are going to go someplace. Our job is to spot them and stop them before they come to the United States to harm innocent people.”
