Jamaican cleric sentenced to 18 years in NY terrorism case
A cleric arrested in his native Jamaica and extradited to New York to face state terrorism expenses on accusations of recruiting help for the Islamic State group was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in jail.
Abdullah el-Faisal was convicted in January in state Supreme Courtroom in Manhattan on counts together with soliciting or offering help for an act of terrorism.
The state legislation he was prosecuted below was put in place after the September 11, 2001, assaults, and prosecutors stated his case was the primary state-level trial on terrorism expenses.
El-Faisal was extradited to New York Metropolis in 2020 after being arrested in Jamaica in 2017. Starting in 2016, authorities stated an undercover officer in New York Metropolis posed as a would-be jihadist and began speaking with the cleric.
The cleric was accused of giving out data to assist the officer in the end join with the Islamic State group, in addition to making an attempt to do issues like act as a conduit for a wedding between the officer and a member of the militant group.
Prosecutors stated el-Faisal had supported the Islamic State group for a number of years. They stated he was very influential, utilizing on-line lectures to encourage violent acts and advocating for an Islamic caliphate.
He had beforehand served jail time in Britain after being convicted of incitement and stirring racial hatred and had additionally been deported from Kenya.
“Shaikh Faisal’s advocacy, recruitment and provision of fabric help to ISIS helped the terrorist group carry out horrific acts, together with the homicide and kidnapping of harmless individuals,” Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin L Bragg, Jr stated in a press release asserting the sentence.
An try to depart a message for Michael Fineman, the cleric’s lawyer, was unsuccessful.
Federal officers have stated el-Faisal’s sermons influenced individuals similar to Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a bomb in Instances Sq. in 2010, and Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber who tried to explode a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day 2009.