Photo Courtesy of U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of NY
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace (l., seen here with Attorney General Merrick Garland) recently announced Saleh’s sentence.
By Forum Staff
A Jamaica man has been sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment for attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS, federal prosecutors recently announced.
Ali Saleh, 28, pleaded guilty to the charge in July 2018.
Starting in 2013 and thereafter, Saleh swore an oath of allegiance to ISIS and embraced ISIS’s directive to either travel to the Middle East to fight for ISIS or take action at home in support of ISIS. On August 25, 2014, Saleh stated online, “I’m ready to die for the Caliphate, prison is nothing.” On Aug. 28, 2014, Saleh stated online, “Lets be clear the Muslims in the khilafah [caliphate] need help, the one who is capable to go over and help the Muslims must go and help.” That same day, Saleh made an airline reservation to travel from New York to Turkey, a country bordering Syria. Saleh was ultimately prevented from traveling because his parents took away his passport.
Saleh then redirected his efforts to facilitating others’ support of ISIS. In October 2014, Saleh communicated with an ISIS supporter in Mali through an online messaging platform and sent a wire transfer in the amount of $500 to fund that person’s travel to Syria. Around the same time period, Saleh communicated with several other individuals in an effort to facilitate their support of ISIS, including known ISIS supporters in the United Kingdom and Australia.
In July 2015, Saleh purchased 48 pyrotechnic mortars (large, tube-fired fireworks described as “artillery shells” on the packaging and containing explosive powder), stored them in a hidden area in the trunk of his car, and drove towards New York City. Law enforcement agents discovered on the cell phone that Saleh used at this time detailed instructions regarding how to create a bomb, including a hand thrown improvised explosive device, a pipe bomb, and a pressure cooker bomb, using explosive powder from fireworks. Saleh’s fireworks were sufficient to create multiple hand-thrown IEDs or a pressure cooker bomb. As Saleh drove toward New York City with the explosive materials in his trunk, his car broke down, and he was forced to have it towed. Saleh later abandoned the car.
Saleh then made five separate attempts, over 10 days, to travel to the Middle East to fight for ISIS. On July 24, 2015, Saleh contacted an ISIS travel facilitator in Libya and made a same-day one-way booking to travel from New York to Cairo, Egypt. Notably, Egypt and Libya are bordering countries and it was relatively easy and common at that time for individuals to travel from Egypt to Libya to join ISIS. Saleh went to JFK and attempted to pay for the flight at the airline ticket counter, but he was informed by airline personnel that a message had come up on the screen and he left the ticket line. Saleh subsequently visited international airports in Newark, Philadelphia and Indianapolis, but continued to encounter travel restrictions. Saleh attempted to circumvent air travel restrictions by taking a train from Cleveland to Toronto, Canada, to fly to the Middle East from Canada. After law enforcement intervention, however, Saleh did not board the train and instead returned to New York.
In September 2015, Saleh was arrested at his home.
