New York man gets 22.5 years' jail for supporting ISIS, the longest ever meted out to an American

Mufid Elfgeeh, 32, was sentenced to 22 and a half years' jail for trying to recruit fighters to join ISIS - the longest prison term handed out yet to an American convicted of supporting the militant group. PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A New York state resident was sentenced on Thursday (March 17) to 22 and a half years in prison for trying to recruit fighters to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) - the longest prison term handed out yet to an American convicted of supporting the militant group.

Mufid Elfgeeh, 32, of Rochester, was sentenced by United States District Judge Elizabeth Wolford of the Western District of New York. The district's US attorney William Hochul called Elfgeeh "one of the first ISIL recruiters ever captured", using another acronym for the militant group.

A North Carolina federal judge last May issued the second-longest sentence for ISIS-related activity - 20 years and three months in prison - to Donald Ray Morgan, 44, for trying to provide material support to ISIS, and for unlawfully possessing a firearm.

A Reuters analysis, confirmed by the US Department of Justice, found they were the two stiffest-such sentences yet issued.

Convictions for ISIS-related activity by Americans have become more frequent in recent months as more than 80 such cases brought by US prosecutors since 2013 work their way through federal courts.

An Arizona man was convicted by a jury on Thursday of conspiring to support ISIS and other terrorism-related charges, while two men in unrelated cases in Mississippi and Ohio pleaded guilty on Friday and Wednesday to trying to join or convince others to join Islamic State. They have not yet been sentenced.

Although Elfgeeh pleaded guilty in December only to trying to recruit two individuals to join ISIS, he was also originally charged with trying to kill US service members and unlawfully possessing firearms and silencers.

Beginning in 2013, the FBI paid two informants to help investigate Elfgeeh, according to court records. The informants recorded conversations in which Elfgeeh talked about wanting to kill members of the US military and Shi'a Muslims in New York. One of the informants eventually sold Elfgeeh firearms and ammunition.

Elfgeeh tried to send the two individuals to Syria to fight on behalf of ISIS, buying them a laptop computer, a high-definition camera, an expedited passport and other travel documents, according to his plea agreement.

He used Facebook and WhatsApp to activate a network of Islamic State sympathizers in Turkey, Syria and Yemen who could facilitate their trip, the plea agreement said.

During the same months, Elfgeeh also helped the alleged commander of a Syrian rebel battalion contact ISIS leadership so that the battalion could join the larger group, prosecutors said.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.