Long Island Man Sentenced to 200 Months in Jail for Attempting to Provide Material Support to Terrorists | USAO-EDNY

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CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – Earlier today at the Federal Courthouse in Central Islip, Elvis Redzepagic was sentenced by United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley to 200 months in jail for attempting to provide a material and resource support to foreign terrorist organizations designated Iraq State and al-Sham Islam (ISIS) and the al-Nusra Front. Redzepagic, a U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to the prosecution in April 2021.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Matthew G. Olsen, Deputy Attorney General of the National Security Division of the Department of Justice, and Michael J. Driscoll, Deputy Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.

“With the imposition of today’s long sentence, Redzepagic is paying a high price for his ill-advised embrace of terrorism and his attempts to join ISIS and the al-Nusra Front in order to carry out a violent jihad,” he said. said US Attorney Peace. “This office, along with our law enforcement partners, will remain vigilant to protect the public against terrorist threats and to thwart their violent attacks at home and abroad. “

Mr. Peace thanked the Office of International Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the FBI Legal Attaché for Serbia and the Ministry of Justice of the Government of Montenegro, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Police Unit. for their help in this matter.

In early 2015, Redzepagic began contacting an individual he believed to be both the commander of a battalion in Syria and a member of ISIS or the al-Nusra Front, and attempted to join the battalion of this individual to engage in violent jihad. In July 2015, Redzepagic visited Turkey and made several unsuccessful attempts to cross the border into Syria. Unable to enter Syria from Turkey, Redzepagic traveled to Jordan in August 2016, but was arrested and deported by Jordanian authorities.

In October 2015 Facebook posts, Redzepagic explained that “jihad” is when “you fight for the love of God” and “die for the love of Allah”. Redzepagic said he had traveled to Turkey to “carry out Jihad and join Jabhat Al-Nusra”. He predicted, “There will come a time when people will not know what to say to Allahu Akbar. ”

A search of the accused’s laptop revealed a variety of extremist ISIS-specific propaganda, including ISIS nasheeds, or Islamist hymns, including the “ISIS anthem” in English . Redzepagic also repeatedly accessed the “Put hilafeta” or “Way to the Caliphate” website, a Bosnian-language website aimed at prospective foreign fighters in the Balkans who were primarily seeking to join ISIS and wage jihad in Syria. .

The government’s case is handled by the National Security and Cybercrime Section of the Office. U.S. Deputy Prosecutors Saritha Komatireddy and Artie McConnell lead the prosecution, with the assistance of trial lawyer Stephanie Sweeten of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

The defendant:

ELVIS REDZEPAGIC
Age: 30
Commack, New York

EDNY file n ° 17-CR-228 (DRH)

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