2 Virginia men charged with attempt to provide support to ISIS; suspect arrested at airport about to board flight to Syria
Two Virginia men were charged by the U.S. government Saturday with attempting to support the Islamic State (ISIS) after one of them was arrested at the airport before boarding his flight en route to Syria.
The U.S. Justice Department identified the suspects as Joseph Hassan Farrokh, 28, and Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 25, both of Woodbridge, Virginia.
Farrokh was arrested Friday at Richmond International Airport in Virginia as he was attempting to board his flight to Chicago, where he intended to take his flight to Amman, Jordan, with the goal of entering Syria to join ISIS.
Elhassan was also arrested Friday in Woodbridge after he returned from driving Farrokh to Richmond.
Farrokh, a U.S. citizen originally from Pennsylvania, is facing a charge of providing material support to ISIS while Elhassan, a legal permanent U.S. resident originally from Sudan, with aiding Farrokh's attempt.
Court documents showed that since November last year, Farrokh has been planning to leave the United States and join ISIS in Syria, meeting several times with confidential human sources to work details of how and when he could travel to Syria.
He bought an airline ticket on Dec. 21 for a flight from Richmond to Jordan. From there, he planned to travel to Syria and join the terrorist group.
Elhassan introduced Farrokh to a person who the former believed maintained connections to individuals engaged in jihad overseas. He knew of Farrokh's plans to travel to Syria and join ISIS and told others that Farrokh lied to his family, saying he was going to Saudi Arabia to study.
He picked up Farrokh on Friday morning and drove him to Richmond, about one mile from the airport. Farrokh then took a cab to the airport, checked in for his flight, cleared security and was arrested.
Elhassan returned to Woodbridge and voluntarily agreed to be questioned by FBI agents but made false statements, according to court documents.
The two will appear before a court on Jan. 19 in Alexandria, Virginia.
If they are found guilty, Farrokh and Elhassan each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
