Mohamed Salat Haji, Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS, Michigan 2019

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — Mohamed Salat Haji, a 28-year-old resident of Lansing, Michigan, has been sentenced to serve 130 months in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The sentencing was announced by United States Attorney Andrew Birge on June 16, 2021. In addition to the prison time, Chief United States District Judge Robert J. Jonker ordered Haji to serve 12 years of supervision by the court, following his release from prison.

The government had sought a sentence of 240 months in prison, consistent with the sentence recommended by the United States Sentencing Guidelines.

According to court documents, between December 2018 and January 2019, Haji’s cousin, Mohamud Muse, coordinated with an individual he believed to be a Somali ISIS fighter to wire funds to be used to purchase airline tickets for travel to Mogadishu, Somalia, where he believed he would meet an ISIS representative.

The three defendants – Haji, Muse Muse, and Mohamud Muse – had all pledged allegiance to ISIS in recorded videos, which they submitted to individuals they believed were associated with the terrorist organization. The defendants also participated in numerous conversations during which they discussed traveling overseas to join ISIS and even adopted fighter aliases by which they would be known when fighting for ISIS.

In June 2021, Haji pleaded guilty to the charge, admitting that he agreed with one or more individuals to provide material support or resources (which includes personnel) to ISIS, a foreign terrorist organization. He further admitted that the individuals he conspired with were his relatives and co-defendants, Muse Muse and Mohamud Muse.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led the investigation, which was assisted by the Michigan State Police, Kent County Sheriff’s Office, Eaton County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan State University Police Department, Lansing Police Department, Grand Rapids Police Department, Gerald R. Ford Airport Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration, Federal Air Marshals, and Customs and Border Protection.

Assistant United States Attorneys Clay M. West and Christopher O’Connor prosecuted the case with assistance from the National Security Division Counterterrorism Section.

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