(Note: Contact phone number deleted for this posting.)
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NOTE The following text is a quote:
www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2013/fbi-arrests-suburban-chicago-man-on-charge-of-supporting-terrorism-overseas
FBI Arrests Suburban Chicago Man on Charge of Supporting Terrorism Overseas
FBI Chicago
April 20, 2013
Special Agent Joan Hyde
An alleged attempt by an Aurora, Illinois man to travel to Syria in order to join a jihadist militant group operating inside Syria led to his arrest Friday evening. The arrest was announced today by Cory B. Nelson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Gary S. Shapiro, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, 18, a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody without incident late yesterday at O’Hare International Airport by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force as he attempted to board a flight destined for Istanbul, Turkey. He was charged in a criminal complaint filed today in U.S. District Court with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, a felony offense. Tounisi appeared earlier today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel G. Martin and was ordered held until his next court appearance, which is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on April 23, 2013.
In making today’s announcement, Mr. Nelson stated that the investigation that culminated in Tounisi’s arrest began in 2012 and that there is no connection between this case and the events that occurred over the last several days in Boston.
The complaint states that Tounisi is a close friend of Adel Daoud, an individual arrested in September 2012 for attempting to detonate a bomb outside a Chicago bar and that Tounisi and Daoud appeared to share an interest in violent jihad. While Tounisi allegedly discussed attack techniques and targets prior to Daoud’s arrest, Tounisi did not participate in Daoud’s attempted attack.
According to the complaint, from January to April 2013, Tounisi conducted online research related to overseas travel and violent jihad, focusing specifically on Syria and the Jabhat al Nusrah terrorist group. Jabhat al Nusrah is listed by the U.S. Department of State as an alias for al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a designated foreign terrorist organization. The complaint alleges that Tounisi searched online for information about travel from Chicago to Syria, obtained a new passport, and, beginning in late March 2013, made online contact with an individual Tounisi believed to be a recruiter for Jabhat al Nusrah. That individual was in fact an FBI employee acting in an online undercover capacity. The complaint further alleges that Tounisi and the undercover employee exchanged a series of e-mails in which Tounisi shared his plan to get to Syria by way of Turkey, as well as his willingness to die for the cause. During the exchanges, Tounisi also sought advice from the undercover employee on travel from Istanbul to the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which lies near the border of Turkey and Syria.
The complaint states that on April 10, Tounisi purchased an airline ticket for a flight from Chicago to Istanbul and on April 18, the undercover employee provided Tounisi with a bus ticket for travel from Istanbul to Gaziantep. Tounisi arrived at O’Hare International Airport’s international terminal Friday evening, and after passing through airport security, he was arrested.
If convicted of the charge filed against him, Tounisi faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.
The JTTF is composed of special agents of the FBI, officers of the Chicago Police Department, and representatives from an additional 20 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The Justice Department’s National Security Division assisted in the investigation.
Mr. Nelson expressed his gratitude to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for the significant support provided by its officers during the arrest of Tounisi.
The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
“Feds appeal order to release teen allegedly tied to terror group”
BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter
May 2, 2013 2:42PM
Updated: May 3, 2013 2:30AM
SNIPPET: “Prosecutors say Abdella Ahmed Tounisi is a potentially dangerous terrorist who’s been caught on tape saying he wants to die a martyr.”
SNIPPET: “Arrested on April 19 as he tried to board a plane to Turkey at O’Hare, Tounisi is accused of plotting to join up with the al-Qaida group Jabhat al-Nusrah to fight in Syria.
He’s also accused — though not charged with — helping his best pal, Adel Daoud, select a South Loop bar as a bombing target last year.”
NOTE The following text is a quote:
www.fbi.gov/chicago/press-releases/2013/chicago-area-man-indicted-for-allegedly-obstructing-justice-and-soliciting-the-murder-of-an-undercover-fbi-agent
Chicago-Area Man Indicted for Allegedly Obstructing Justice and Soliciting the Murder of an Undercover FBI Agent
U.S. Attorney’s Office
August 29, 2013
Northern District of Illinois
CHICAGO—A Hillside man was indicted today on federal charges for allegedly soliciting the murder of an undercover FBI agent after the defendant was arrested last September and charged with attempting to detonate a purported bomb outside a bar in downtown Chicago. The defendant, Adel Daoud, was charged with one count each of solicitation of murder or attempted murder of a federal agent, murder-for-hire, and obstruction of justice in a three-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury.
Daoud, 19, will be arraigned on today’s charges on a date to be determined in U.S. District Court. He has pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges stemming from his arrest on September 14, 2012, when he allegedly attempted to detonate a purported explosive device. His trial on those charges is scheduled for April 7, 2014.
According to today’s indictment, in July 2012, Daoud was introduced to Individual A, an undercover FBI agent posing as a terrorist residing in New York, who would supply Daoud with an explosive device to use in a terrorist attack in Chicago. After he was arrested, Daoud learned that Individual A was an FBI agent. Between October 26 and November 29, 2012, Daoud allegedly solicited another person to use physical force to murder or attempt to murder the undercover agent.
The murder-for-hire count alleges that on November 28, 2012, Daoud caused another person to use a telephone with the intent of committing the murder Individual A in return for payment. The obstruction count alleges that between October 26 and November 29, 2012, Daoud attempted to kill Individual A to prevent the agent from attending and testifying in court.
The indictment was announced by Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert J. Shields, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barry Jonas and William Ridgway.
The solicitation count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; murder-for-hire carries a maximum of 10 years; the obstruction of justice count carries a maximum of 30 years; and each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.
An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.