Massachusetts man found guilty of supporting ISIS, conspiracy to commit terrorism

In a Massachusetts case, a 28-year-old man had been convicted of conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group, along with terrorism and obstruction charges.

David Daoud Wright had been indicted back in April 2016 alongside Nicholas Alexander Rovinski as co-conspirators with Wright’s uncle for the material support to ISIS. Rovinski pleaded guilty later that year to both conspiracy to commit terrorism and the material support charges. The court case determined that Wright had begun discussing ISIS call to kill non-believers with his co-conspirators as far back as February 2015, after which Wright drafted organizational documents and began plotting the murder of an individual in New York.

While detained, Rovinski was actually still penning Wright from prison. Those letters addressed ways to topple the U.S. government and kill non-believers.

“Mr. Wright conspired to provide material support to ISIS and plotted to kill innocent civilians on U.S. soil and to wage violence against our government on behalf of the foreign terrorist organization,” Dana J. Boente, acting assistant attorney general for National Security, said. “Mr. Wright will now be held accountable for his crimes. The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism, and we will remain vigilant in our efforts to disrupt potential attacks in the United States and to hold accountable those who seek to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.”

Obstruction came into the picture when Wright deleted data from his computer and call logs related to Rahim after learning that Rahim had been shot and killed following an attack on law enforcement officers on June 2, 2015. Sentencing, on all charges, remains to be seen. Yet the conspiracy to provide material support charge alone could give Wright up to 20 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Conspiracy to obstruct justice brings an additional five years in prison and another $250,000 fine, while actual obstruction of justice brings 20 years in prison and another $250,000 fine.