GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — United States Lawyer Andrew Birge declared nowadays that Main United States District Judge Robert J. Jonker sentenced Muse Muse, age 22, of Lansing, Michigan to serve 78 months in federal prison for conspiring to provide materials assistance to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (“ISIS”), a designated overseas terrorist organization. Next his release from jail, Muse Muse was purchased to provide 10 a long time of supervised release. The federal government sought a sentence of 178 months (almost 15 decades) in jail steady with the sentence proposed by the United States Sentencing Pointers.
On January 21, 2019, specific agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and members of its Joint Terrorism Endeavor Power arrested Muse Muse at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, just after he checked in for a flight to the 1st of a collection of places on his way to Mogadishu, Somalia, with the goal of signing up for ISIS. Shortly thereafter, his brother Mohamud Muse and cousin Mohamed Haji were arrested as co-conspirators. Immediately subsequent his arrest, Muse Muse adopted a handwritten assertion organized for him by an FBI exclusive agent that summarized his desire in ISIS and conclusion target regarding his assistance of ISIS. In component, Defendant admitted that he “wanted to be a part of ISIS in Somalia so I would not have to do an assault in the United States.”
According to court docket files, amongst December 2018 and January 2019, Muse Muse coordinated with an unique he believed to be a Somali ISIS fighter to wire funds to be utilised to purchase airline tickets for vacation to Mogadishu, Somalia, the place he considered he would meet an ISIS consultant. All three defendants picked up money to supply Muse Muse the resources to journey to be a part of ISIS, all 3 defendants pledged allegiance to ISIS in recorded movies, and all three submitted their videos to persons they considered ended up linked with ISIS.
On top of that, records offered to the Court docket at sentencing shown that all over the conspiracy, all 3 defendants participated in a lot of conversations through which they mentioned touring abroad to be a part of ISIS and even adopted fighter aliases by which they would be known when battling for ISIS. In one dialogue amongst Muse Muse and Mohamed Haji on November 1, 2017, the two celebrated the deadly automobile assault in New York City that transpired on October 31, 2017. Muse Muse despatched the pursuing picture to Haji, who responded “Real civil war”:
Later on, Haji and Defendant celebrated Defendant’s the latest acquisition of a Michigan driver’s license. Haji started, “You’re a driver now” and “that’s fantastic so you can travel that [martyrdom] car or truck ideal.” Muse Muse responded, “Yes [God willing].” Muse Muse also claimed, “I’ve been considering about having a rifle and something” and “I’m starting up to entertain these thoughts.” In March 2018, Muse Muse sent a information to a relative declaring: “I’m a terrorist” and “I’m likely to Somalia [God willing].”
In January 2020, Muse Muse admitted that he: (1) agreed with a single or a lot more men and women to offer substance assist or methods (which consists of staff) to ISIS, a international terrorist business (2) realized that ISIS was a designated overseas terrorist corporation or had engaged or engages in terrorist exercise or terrorism and (3) is a U.S. national and that portion of the offense happened in the United States. Muse Muse even further admitted that the persons he conspired with were his kin and co-defendants, Mohamud Muse and Mohamed Haji. Mohamud Muse and Haji have just about every also pled responsible in relationship with the plot and await sentencing.
In sentencing Muse Muse, the Court located that his age at the time of the offense, his absence of particular financial means to finance overseas vacation, and the possible for rehabilitation were being among the the elements thought of by the Court in imposing the 78-month sentence. Because of to the Court’s disagreement with the Sentencing Rules and due to the fact Muse Muse did not have a prior criminal history, the Courtroom departed downward an extra 52 months from the applicable Sentencing Guideline sentence.
United States Legal professional Andrew Birge stated, “Although we are let down and respectfully disagree with the sentence imposed by the Court, we applaud the FBI’s thriving endeavours to protect against this defendant from assisting a risky global terrorist firm to carry out attacks in this article or abroad. This sentence will make certain that, at the very least for the subsequent 6 and one particular-50 percent decades, Muse Muse will not be ready to join ISIS overseas to guide its members with committing violence. Detecting, protecting against, and prosecuting terrorism offenses continues to be the highest priority for the Office of Justice and my place of work.”
“Muse Muse’s dedication to be part of ISIS and damage Us citizens in Michigan and overseas was effectively documented throughout the investigation,” stated Timothy Waters, Distinctive Agent in Cost of the FBI’s Detroit Division. “The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Endeavor Drive is effective every single working day to reduce violence prior to it happens, and the moment again I commend the remarkable operate of our companions on the JTTF who perform 24/7 to hold the citizens of Michigan risk-free.”
The FBI’s investigation was assisted by the Michigan Point out Police, Kent County Sheriff’s Place of work, Eaton County Sheriff’s Workplace, Michigan State College Police Section, Lansing Police Section, Grand Rapids Law enforcement Office, Gerald R. Ford Airport Police, the U.S. Marshals Provider, and the Department of Homeland Safety Transportation Protection Administration, Federal Air Marshals, and Customs and Border Defense.
Assistant United States Lawyers Clay West and Christopher O’Connor are prosecuting the situation with support from the National Stability Division Counterterrorism Part.
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