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 Alaa Saadeh, a 24-year-old who was among several men arrested in
recent months in New York and New Jersey and accused of trying to
aid the Islamic State, pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark to
conspiring with others to provide material support to the group.
In a separate federal case in Chicago, Mohammed Hamzah Khan, 20,
pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a
foreign terrorist organization, as part of deal in which prosecutors
will seek at most five years in prison.
The pleas came as U.S. authorities pursue a number of so-called
"lone wolf" plotters in recent months who have apparently been
inspired by Islamic State. Authorities say they are pursuing similar
cases in all 50 states.
The United States has led air strikes against the Islamic State,
which has seized territory in Iraq and Syria, kidnapped and beheaded
captives and declared a modern caliphate.
In Newark on Thursday, Saadeh admitted to having planned to travel
overseas to join the Islamic State, prosecutors said.
Saadeh admitted he discussed the plan with Samuel Rahamin Topaz,
Munther Omar Saleh and his brother, Nader Saadeh, each of whom also
expressed a desire to join the Islamic State, prosecutors said.
Those three men were later charged, and Topaz has since pleaded
guilty. Saadeh's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
Separately in Chicago, Khan appeared in court to admit he intended
to travel to Syria to work for Islamic State, including taking a
possible combat role.
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Khan was arrested in October 2014 at O'Hare International Airport as
he tried to travel to the Middle East with his siblings, then 16 and
17 years old.
Khan, who lived in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, admitted in
court he used his income from a hardware store job to pay for their
passports and tickets.
Thomas Durkin, Khan's lawyer, said he was brainwashed by online
propaganda. While Durkin said he understands why Khan pleaded
guilty, he expressed skepticism that prosecution is the answer.
"I don't think anybody wants to see American kids being warehoused
for being brainwashed by ISIS," he told reporters, referring to
another name for the Islamic State. "This could happen to anybody."
(Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago and Nate Raymond in New York;
Editing by Bill Trott and Cynthia Osterman)
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