Soldier sentenced for attempting to provide material aid to ISIS

Army Sgt. First Class Ikaika Erik Kang has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

Officials said Kang, 35, formerly stationed at Schofield Barracks, was sentenced to 240 months on Counts 2, 3 and 4 to run concurrently and 60 months on Count 1, to run consecutively, for a total of 300 months in prison.

“Kang swore to defend the United States as a member of our military, but betrayed his country by swearing allegiance to ISIS and attempting to provide it material support,” John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for National Security, said. “With the sentence imposed, he is being held accountable for his betrayal and his crimes. I want to thank all of the agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for this case.”

Authorities noted via court documents and information presented, Kang became sympathetic to ISIS by at least early 2016, adding he regularly watched ISIS propaganda videos online, made numerous statements in support of ISIS, expressed a desire to join ISIS and spoke approvingly and in detail about committing specific acts of violence against others.

Officials said in late June and early July of 2018, Kang met numerous times with undercover FBI agents who he believed had connections to ISIS, providing them with sensitive, non-public military documents, some of which were classified at the SECRET level. He also led the two agents — one who purported to be a high-ranking ISIS leader and the second who played the role of an ISIS fighter — in two-hour, military combative training sessions to prepare the supposed ISIS members for hand-to-hand fighting techniques and marksmanship.

Kang was given numerous opportunities by the undercover agents to return the classified military documents as well as to stop the training sessions, which he did not do.