An owner of a pizza shop in New York has pleaded guilty to providing support to the Islamic State (ISIS) by recruiting people to join the jihadist and terrorist group as well as raising funds and providing logistics to the group that has established a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq.
Mufid Elfgeeh, 31, of Rochester, New York, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford of the Western District of New York.
Elfgeeh was born in Yemen and is a naturalised U.S. citizen, the Associated Press reported. He was operating a convenience store and pizza shop when he was arrested in 2014.
Based on the plea agreement and other court documents, Elfgeeh used social media including three Twitter accounts, 23 Facebook accounts and a WhatsApp account to receive and disseminate information about foreign terrorist groups in Syria and other countries; declare his support to ISIS; inspire and encourage people to engage in violent jihad and support ISIS; and seek money to assist jihadist fighters.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.
Elfgeeh was arrested on May 31, 2014. He will be sentenced on March 17 next year in New York.
Court documents showed that from December 2013 to May 2014, Elfgeeh recruited and attempted to send two people to Syria to join ISIS.
Elfgeeh paid more than $240 for Individual B to get a copy of his birth certificate, passport photos and passport. He also bought a laptop and high-definition action camera for the two people to take to Syria.
In May 2014, he arranged for an overseas contact to coordinate the logistics of the trip and the admission of the two recruits into Syria.
He sent $600 to a person in Aden, Yemen to assist that individual in traveling from Yemen to Syria for the purpose of joining ISIS.
In March 2014, Elfgeeh communicated with a Syrian national who was the military commander of a battalion of fighters located in Homs, Syria. He coordinated between the battalion commander and ISIS leadership with the aim of convincing the commander and his battalion to join ISIS.
