Three men from Minnesota were convicted by a federal jury on Friday of conspiring to commit murder in Syria and providing material support to the terrorist Islamic State (ISIS) organisation.
Guled Ali Omar, 21; and Abdurahman Yasin Daud and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, both 22, were convicted in the first multi-defendant ISIS-related trial in the U.S., according to the U.S. Justice Department, and could face life imprisonment, Newsmax reports.
Omar was also convicted of one count of attempted financial aid fraud and Farah was found guilty of perjury and proving false statement.
"The evidence in this case made clear that the defendants made a deeply personal and deliberate decision back in 2014," said U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger. "They wanted to fight for a brutal terrorist organisation, kill innocent people and destroy their own families in the process. This trial should serve as a wake-up call that it will take the entire community to stop terror recruiting in Minnesota."
The justice department said the three men tried to join ISIS several times from May 2014 to April 2015.
Omar along with other co-conspirators Abdi Nur and Abdullahi Yusuf attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Daud gave them contact information of an ISIS member in Turkey so they could be assisted in crossing Turkey into Syria.
Nur joined ISIS in Syria in June 2014. Yusuf was stopped at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport and was later arrested.
Omar attempted to join ISIS in May 2014 by traveling across the U.S.-Mexico border near San Diego but failed when Omar's family prevented his travel.
In November 2014, Omar attempted again to join ISIS in Syria but was stopped at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
Farah took a bus in November 2014 from Minneapolis to New York City to attempt to board a flight to Europe with Syria as the end destination but was stopped.
In April 2015, Daud and Farah drove from Minneapolis to San Diego, where they intended to buy fake passports, cross the border into Mexico and travel to Syria to join ISIS. Both were arrested after getting the fake travel documents.
Farah's lawyer, Murad Mohammad, said he and his client were disappointed in the court decision.
"Farah fell victim to ISIS' slick marketing campaign, dusted with enough misrepresentations of Islam to make it appear to be a legitimate Islamic organisation," said Mohammad, according to Reuters.
Ten men were charged in the case in which six pleaded guilty while Nur remains a fugitive.
