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 Aws Mohammed Younis al-Jayab, 23, who was arrested in Sacramento,
is accused of making a false statement when he said he had gone to
Turkey to visit his grandmother in late 2013 and 2014. In the
indictment released on Thursday, prosecutors said that after going
to Turkey, al-Jayab went to Syria and became a member of a "rebel
group, militia or insurgent organization."
Al-Jayab was one of two men from the Middle East who came to the
United States as refugees and were arrested on federal terrorism
charges last week in California and Texas of supporting Islamist
militant groups.
Both men are Palestinians born in Iraq. The man arrested in Houston,
Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan, entered the United States as an Iraqi
refugee in November 2009, according to a court document.
Al-Jayab, 23, came to the United States in 2012 as a refugee from
Syria, court documents said.
Al-Jayab's lawyer, Ben Galloway, said the community college student
planned to plead not guilty in a federal arraignment proceeding set
for Jan. 22.
"The allegedly false statements relate exclusively to a brief trip
overseas two years ago," Galloway said.
Both the FBI and Galloway said al-Jayab was not believed to have
plotted any attack against the United States.
The indictment, which charges al-Jayab with a single count of making
a false statement involving international terrorism, lists several
instances in which he allegedly lied about his trip and ties to
militant organizations.
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It accuses al-Jayab, who was arrested last week, of also lying about
providing material support to the group, which was not named, and
assisting in a group where people used or threatened to use weapons
against others.
Al-Jayab also gave false information about providing material
support to a militant group and about having "called for, helped
with or committed the killing of any person," according to the
indictment.
The indictment does not say why al-Jayab went to Syria, but an FBI
affidavit filed last week alleged he communicated online with
friends, family and associates while in the Middle East, telling
some that he was fighting in Syria's civil war.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of eight years in prison
and a $250,000 fine.
(Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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