Alaa Saadeh, Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, New Jersey 2015
Grimy Times has learned that a Hudson County man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Alaa Saadeh, 24, of West New York, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiring with others to provide material support to ISIL.
According to documents filed in this and related cases and statements made in court, Saadeh admitted that prior to his arrest June 29, 2015, by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), he planned to travel overseas to join ISIL along with others.
Saadeh discussed the plans to join ISIL with his brother, Nader Saadeh, Samuel Rahamin Topaz, and Munther Omar Saleh, and admitted that at various times each of them indicated that they wanted to join ISIL.
Saadeh also admitted he watched ISIL-related videos with Nader Saadeh and Topaz, some of which depicted the execution of individuals – both Muslim and non-Muslim – regarded by ISIL as enemies.
On May 5, 2015, Saadeh’s brother, Nader Saadeh, departed the United States with plans to travel overseas to join ISIL as part of the conspiracy, according to Alaa Saadeh’s statements in court today.
Saadeh admitted assisting his brother with these plans by letting him purchase airline tickets using Saadeh’s credit card and by removing the SIM card from Nader’s smartphone and resetting the smartphone in an effort to avoid detection.
The count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Sentencing is scheduled for
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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