Two men alleged to be ISIS sympathizers were arrested in Virginia last weekend. One of the men was arrested as he was about to board a plane to Syria.
According to Reuters, the US Justice Department said that a certain Joseph Hassan Farrokh, 28, was arrested on Friday at the Richmond International Airport in Virginia as he was about to board a flight to Chicago with the ultimate destination to Syria. The Justice Department is charging Mr. Farrokh with "attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIL", using another name for the Islamic State.
NBC Washington reports that Farrokh, a US citizen, has been trying to leave the United States and join ISIS as early as Novemeber of last year. He was able to purchase a ticket last December 21, 2015, for a flight to Chicago with an arrival destination of Jordan, and would then travel to Syria.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Amin Mohamed Elhassan, 25 years old and a legal permanent resident of the US, was arrested on Friday night after returning from driving Farrokh to Richmond. Elhassan has been charged with aiding and abetting Farrokh's plans to join ISIS by facilitating his travel plans and driving him to the airport.
USA Today was able to get ahold of court documents that accuses Elhassan of introducing Farrokh to another person believed to be associated with ISIS. This person, unfortunately turned out to be an informant for the FBI.
Prosecutors for the court also allege that Elhassan masked Farrokh's travel plans by telling family members he intended to study in Saudi Arabia.
The court documents further state that Elhassan allegedly picked up Farrokh on Friday morning and drove him to Richmond, VA and a location about a mile from the airport. Farrokh reportedly took a taxi to Chicago and cleared security before he was arrested by FBI agents.
Elhassan, when questioned, made "a number of false statements" to the investigators and was immediately arrested .
Farrokh and Elhassan are scheduled to make their court appearance on Tuesday in a Virginia federal court. If both suspects are convicted, they could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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