A 40-year prison sentence has been handed down to Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, a 20-year-old Canadian citizen, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in New York City in the summer of 2016 in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The sentencing was announced by Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and John C. Demers, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security.
According to the Indictment, Superseding Information, and other court filings, El Bahnasawy plotted with Talha Haroon, a 20-year-old U.S. citizen residing in Pakistan, and Russell Salic, a 38-year-old Philippines citizen and resident, to conduct bombings and shootings in heavily populated areas of New York City during the Islamic holy month of Ramadhan in 2016.
The 40-year sentence was handed down by Judge Richard M. Berman, who also imposed lifetime supervised release on El Bahnasawy.
El Bahnasawy was arrested in May 2016 after he traveled from Canada to the New York City area in preparation for the attacks, and has been in custody since that time. Haroon was arrested in Pakistan in September 2016, and Salic was arrested in the Philippines in April 2017, based on Complaints filed against them in Manhattan federal court.
The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD, and the FBI’s Los Angeles and Denver Field Offices were praised for their outstanding efforts in thwarting the plot.
El Bahnasawy, a resident of Mississauga, Canada, was charged with terrorism offenses in a seven-count Superseding Information, which he pled guilty to on October 13, 2016.
The charges against El Bahnasawy include conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, among others.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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