An Edmonton man who was extradited to the United States was sentenced to 20 years in U.S. prison on Monday for serving to at the very least a half-dozen Canadians and Americans be part of the Islamic State group in Syria in 2013 and 2014.
Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi immediately funded “violent acts of terrorism,” together with the kidnapping and killing of individuals in Syria, mentioned U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman in an announcement.
Abdullahi acknowledged in a plea settlement that he helped a resident of San Diego, Douglas McAuthur McCain, be part of ISIS.
McCain was killed in Syria whereas combating alongside ISIS fighters towards Syrian opposition forces in 2014, the primary recognized American to die combating for the militant group.
Prosecutors additionally mentioned Abdullahi supplied cash to 4 cousins — three from Edmonton and an 18-year-old cousin from Minneapolis, Minn. — to be part of ISIS fighters in Syria.
The males all died in fight, in accordance to the U.S. authorities.
He additionally admitted to robbing an Edmonton jewellery retailer in January 2014 to increase cash to fund the overseas fighters. Weeks after committing that theft, Abdullahi despatched cash to McCain so he may go to Syria.
Abdullahi was indicted in California in March 2017 and arrested by Canadian authorities in September 2017.
In June 2019, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld his extradition and the justice division assertion says he was turned over to U.S. authorities later that yr.
McCain’s brother, Marchello McCain, was sentenced in 2018 to 10 years in U.S. federal prison for making false statements throughout a number of interviews with federal brokers from 2014 to 2015, together with denying realizing that his brother deliberate to battle for ISIS.
He advised the FBI that he thought his brother was going to Turkey to play music and educate English.
The U.S. introduced earlier this month it killed three ISIS leaders in two separate operations, together with a uncommon floor raid in part of northeast Syria beneath authorities management.
Despite their defeat in Syria in 2019, when ISIS misplaced the final sliver of land its fighters as soon as managed, the extremists’ sleeper cells have continued to perform lethal assaults in Syria and Iraq. ISIS fighters as soon as held massive components of the 2 international locations.