Three More Minnesota Men Sentenced for Providing Material Support to ISIL

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs

Six of nine defendants expected to be sentenced this week for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization, have now been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. Hamza Naj Ahmed, 21, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was charged with an additional count of financial aid fraud, and was sentenced today to 15 years in prison and 20 years supervised release. Adnan Abdihamid Farah, 20, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 20 years supervised release. Hanad Mustofe Musse, 21, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 20 years supervised release.

The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division Mary B. McCord, U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota and Special
Agent in Charge Richard T. Thornton of the FBI’s Minneapolis Division.

"Today's sentences reflect the seriousness of these defendants’ crimes," said U.S Attorney Luger. "Although all three defendants pleaded guilty before trial, none were willing to cooperate with the United States. ISIL continues to target Minnesota's Somali community. Only by working together will we succeed in ending this threat."

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“The sentences handed down today reflect the true gravity of the defendants’ crimes to betray their country, travel overseas, and ultimately join a terrorist organization dedicated to the murder of innocent people,” said Special Agent in Charge Thornton. “We hope these sentences will serve as a strong message that those who support terrorism will face justice. The FBI, through our Joint Terrorism Task Force, remains dedicated to working with our community partners to disrupt threats posed by ISIL and their supporters."

According to his guilty plea in May 2014, Ahmed applied for and later received federal financial aid, which he claimed would be used to attend Minnesota Community and Technical College. Instead, Ahmed used that money to purchase a Greyhound bus ticket from Minneapolis to New York City, New York, and airfare from New York that he thought would enable him to travel to Syria to join ISIL. He was stopped at JFK International Airport in New York by federal agents. Ahmed pleaded guilty on April 25.

According to his guilty plea, A. Farah participated in the conspiracy throughout 2014 and early 2015 in various capacities, including attempting to obtain a real passport to travel to Syria to join ISIL. When that effort failed, A. Farah provided money and a photograph in an attempt to obtain a false passport so that he could travel to Syria to join ISIL. A. Farah also aided Musse in his effort to obtain a false passport. A. Farah pleaded guilty on April 14.

According to his guilty plea, in November 2014, Musse traveled by Greyhound bus from Minneapolis to New York City where he joined three of his co-conspirators at JFK. While at JFK, Musse purchased round-trip airfare to Athens, Greece, with the intention of traveling onward to Syria to join ISIL. He was stopped at JFK by federal agents. Musse pleaded guilty on Sept. 9, 2015.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by members of the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The JTTF includes members from the following departments: the U.S. Marshals Service, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Bloomington Police Department in Minnesota, St. Paul Police Department in Minnesota, Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, Federal Air Marshals Service, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Defense, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Minneapolis Police Department, Burnsville Police Department in Minnesota, Department of State, the Airport Police, IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Winter, John Docherty and Julie Allyn of the District of Minnesota, with assistance from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

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