Zakaryia Abdin, Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS, South Carolina 2017
Zakaryia Abdin, a 20-year-old man from Ladson, South Carolina, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Abdin was arrested by the FBI on March 30, 2017, at the Charleston International Airport when he attempted to board an airplane to travel overseas and join ISIS.
According to court documents, Abdin began his efforts on January 3, 2017, when he created a social media account to be used to join ISIS. On January 20, 2017, Abdin visited the FBI in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, to meet with an FBI Special Agent from the Joint Terrorism Task Force. During this visit, the agent advised Abdin about the FBI's role in conducting counterterrorism investigations and discussed various statutory definitions, including terrorism.
After that date, Abdin began to seek a handler to get him overseas to Syria or Egypt to make contact with ISIS. Unbeknownst to him, he ended up making contact with an undercover FBI employee. Abdin believed this person was affiliated with ISIS. These communications continued up until he was arrested.
Abdin had extensive communications with the undercover FBI employee. During the course of these online conversations, Abdin expressed continued loyalty to ISIS. He said he had given a pledge of loyalty to ISIS in 2014 and provided a video of a new pledge to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of ISIS.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Sherri A. Lydon for the District of South Carolina, and Special Agent in Charge Jody Norris of the FBI's Columbia Division made the announcement. Abdin appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Gergel.
Abdin's sentence is a result of his guilty plea in August 2018. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest.
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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