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Minnesota
residents Mohamed Farah, Abdirahman Daud and Guled Omar are
charged with conspiring to provide material support to Islamic
State and commit murder outside the United States, according to
a brief filed by prosecutors.
The men are part of a group of 10 people that faced similar
federal charges. Six have already pleaded guilty to providing
material support to Islamic State, and another is believed to be
in Syria, said Ben Petok, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's
Office for the District of Minnesota.
Opening statements follow jury selection, which began on Monday
and wrapped up late on Tuesday.
The government expects to call 26 witnesses and introduce about
340 exhibits during the trial in U.S. District Court in
Minneapolis, the brief said.
The government's evidence will include tape-recorded
conversations among the defendants in which they discuss their
criminal plans, murders committed by the Islamic State group and
videos watched by the defendants depicting the use of explosives
and firearms, the brief said.
Along with the conspiracy counts, Farah and Daud are charged
with perjury, and Farah with making a false statement to Federal
Bureau of Investigation agents.
Omar is also facing a charge of attempted financial aid fraud
for trying to use $5,000 in federal student aid to fund travel
to Syria, according to prosecutors.
Each of the three defendants faces up to life in prison, Petok
said. They are currently in federal custody.
From March 2014 to April 2015, a group of individuals, including
the defendants, met multiple times at various locations and
agreed to travel to Syria to join and fight for Islamic State,
prosecutors said.
There were three major efforts by the conspiracy to send members
to Syria to join Islamic State in May and November 2014 and in
April 2015.
According to prosecutors, the three defendants helped each other
with plans to travel to Syria, such as getting passports and
money, advising each other on how to contact the Islamic State
and agreeing on ways to keep their plans secret from law
enforcement.
(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales, editing by G Crosse)
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