Mohamed Bailor Jalloh Gets 11 Years for ISIL Support Plot

A former U.S. Army National Guardsman from Sterling, Virginia, has been slammed with an 11-year federal prison sentence for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 27, pleaded guilty on October 27, 2016, to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, culminating a yearlong investigation by federal counterterrorism agents.

Court documents reveal that in March 2016, a now-deceased ISIL operative brokered a connection between Jalloh and an individual in the United States who was, in reality, an FBI confidential human source (CHS). At the time, the ISIL member was allegedly plotting a domestic attack and believed Jalloh would play a role. Jalloh, a former member of the Virginia Army National Guard, admitted he abandoned plans to re-enlist after consuming online sermons by Anwar al-Awlaki, the late Al-Qaeda propagandist.

Jalloh met twice with the confidential source, during which he bragged about his firearms training, praised the 2015 Chattanooga shooter who killed five U.S. service members, and expressed a desire to conduct an attack similar to the 2009 Ft. Hood massacre that left 13 dead. He claimed he had recently traveled to Africa, where he met with known ISIL operatives in Nigeria and began communicating directly with the broker who later linked him to the FBI source.

In May 2016, Jalloh pressed the CHS for details on an attack timeline, suggesting Ramadan would be the ideal time to strike, calling such operations ‘100 percent the right thing.’ He also asked about funneling money to ISIL and ultimately sent a $500 prepaid cash transfer to a contact he believed was an ISIL member—unaware the recipient was an undercover FBI employee.

The plot escalated in June 2016 when Jalloh traveled to North Carolina in a failed attempt to obtain a firearm. Undeterred, he visited a gun dealership in northern Virginia on July 2, where he test-fired and purchased an assault rifle. The weapon had been rendered inoperable by the FBI before he took possession. Jalloh was arrested the next day; the rifle was seized as evidence.

The sentencing was announced by Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Mary B. McCord, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady handed down the sentence. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Gibbs, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon L. Van Grack, and Trial Attorney Jolie Zimmerman of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Case details are available under Case No. 1:16-mj-296 via the Eastern District of Virginia’s court docket or PACER.