Ohio man sentenced to 22 years for training with terrorist group in Syria, plotting US attacks

An Ohio man who traveled to Syria to train and fight with a known terrorist organization was sentenced to 22 years in prison and 10 years of extended supervision on Tuesday in a U.S. federal court.

Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 26, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to terrorists, attempting to provide and providing material support to a terrorist organization, and making false statements to the FBI involving international terrorism in 2015. The case was sealed until June 2017 due to an ongoing investigation.

“Mohamud traveled to Syria to train and fight with the designated terrorist organization al-Nusrah Front,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security Dana Boente said. “He then returned to the United States with the intent to conduct an attack here. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of law enforcement, Mohamud was arrested and his plans were thwarted. One of the National Security Division’s highest priorities remains identifying and neutralizing the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters who return to the United States.”

Mohamud was a Somali national and lived in Columbus after becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. He booked a one-way ticket to Greece in April 2014 and crossed over into Syria during a layover in Turkey. Mohamud returned to the United States after his brother was killed while fighting for al-Nusrah Front.

“Mohamud engaged in terrorist activity overseas, which included training and fighting with the Al-Nusrah Front, a designated foreign terrorist organization,” Benjamin Glassman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said. “He then returned to the United States with a plan to do grievous harm, recruited others to help him in his homeland plot, and then planned and prepared for attacks in the United States. Once caught, he orchestrated a cover-up beginning with his material misstatements to the FBI. The seriousness of his actions cannot be overstated and today’s sentence illustrates that.”

Court documents indicate that Mohamud planned to obtain weapons and attack military officers and government officials.