Mohammed Hamzah Khan, Attempting to Aid ISIL, IL 2023

A 21-year-old Bolingbrook man has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), federal prosecutors announced today. Mohammed Hamzah Khan pleaded guilty last year to one count of attempting to aid a designated foreign terrorist organization, capping a months-long digital trail that led from suburban Illinois to war-torn Syria.

Khan was arrested October 4, 2014, at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago as he allegedly prepared to board a flight overseas with the intent to join ISIL. Since then, he has remained in federal custody. According to his plea agreement, Khan began using the Internet as early as February 2014 to contact active ISIL operatives in Syria, seeking coordination for his travel and eventual integration into the terrorist group’s operations.

U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. handed down the 40-month sentence and mandated 20 years of intensive supervised release. During that time, Khan must comply with strict monitoring protocols: participation in mental health treatment and violent extremism counseling, acceptance of warrantless searches of his home and electronic devices, and installation of government-approved monitoring software on all internet-capable devices in his possession.

Khan admitted he knew ISIL was a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. Despite this, he willingly sought to place himself under the group’s command, pledging to carry out any task assigned—whether logistical, operational, or otherwise. His cooperation agreement requires him to fully and truthfully assist the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois in any related investigations moving forward.

The case was spearheaded by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, a multi-agency unit composed of FBI special agents, Chicago Police officers, and representatives from 20 other federal, state, and local agencies. Critical support was provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ICE Homeland Security Investigations, and the Illinois State Police, whose combined efforts dismantled Khan’s radicalization pipeline before it could reach its deadly destination.

Prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matt Hiller, Angel Krull, and Sean Driscoll, alongside Department of Justice Trial Attorney Michael Dittoe from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Zachary T. Fardon, then U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, joined federal and state officials in confirming the sentencing, underscoring the ongoing threat of homegrown extremism and the government’s resolve to intercept it at every turn.