Indianapolis News and HeadlinesIndianapolis Local News

Actions

Brownsburg man who tried to join ISIS sentenced

Posted at 6:02 PM, Jun 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-21 18:23:31-04

INDIANAPOLIS — A Brownsburg man who attempted to travel overseas and join ISIS was sentenced to eight years and four months in prison Friday.

Akram Musleh, 21, was arrested June 21, 2016 at his Brownsburg apartment before he boarded a bus to New York City, which would have been the first stop on his trip to Morocco, Turkey and ISIS-controlled territory in Syria, according to a release from U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Indiana.

The release said the FBI first interviewed Musleh in December 2013, when he was a student at Brownsburg High School after he began posting videos of al-Qaeda member Anwar al-Awlaki on his social media accounts.

Between April and June 2015, Musleh booked four separate airplane tickets from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Iraq and Turkey. He attempted to board a flight on June 23, 2015, and was interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and prevented from traveling.

Finally, in April 2016, Musleh again booked a flight overseas, but was arrested before he could leave the country after the FBI monitored his communications with ISIS fighters and supporters.

Musleh will also serve more than 11 years of supervised release after his prison time ends.