Michigan Man Convicted for Joining ISIS in Syria

A Dearborn resident was convicted by a federal jury in the Eastern District of Michigan on charges of providing and conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and attending an ISIS training camp.

The convictions were announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen, U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison of the Eastern District of Michigan, and James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit, Michigan, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli, 32, of Dearborn, Michigan, was convicted after a 9-day trial conducted before United States District Judge David M. Lawson in Detroit. The jury deliberated less than 4 hours before returning their guilty verdicts.

Musaibli, a natural-born U.S. citizen, was convicted on charges of providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS, conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, and attending an ISIS training camp.

Evidence provided during the trial established that Musaibli, born in Detroit, began looking into ISIS while in Michigan in 2015. He then traveled to Yemen in April 2015 and continued to research ISIS—including downloading ISIS propaganda and an ISIS book on how to get into Syria. From Yemen, he traveled to Syria in the fall of 2015 where he attended an ISIS-run religious training camp before undergoing ISIS military training where he learned to shoot, carry, and otherwise handle an AK-47 assault rifle. Upon graduation from the ISIS military training camp, Musaibli swore allegiance to ISIS and its leader. Musaibli remained with ISIS for over two and a half years. Musaibli was eventually apprehended by Syrian Democratic Forces in 2018, turned over to the FBI, and flown back to the United States to face terrorism charges.

Musaibli faces a statutory maximum penalty of 50 years in prison when he is sentenced on May 11, 2023.

“Ibraheem Musaibli traveled halfway around the world and joined a vicious, brutal, and violent terrorist organization known—and proud of—its barbaric acts of terror,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison. “Today’s verdicts highlights the dedication of this office, along with our law enforcement partners, in pursuing anyone who poses a danger to the United States—no matter where they are located.”

“This defendant willingly traveled to Syria, joined ISIS, and attended a terrorist training camp,” said James A. Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office. “Today’s verdict demonstrates to anyone who would seek to contribute to ISIS’s terrorist activities that the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will be unwavering in its mission to protect the American people by identifying, disrupting, and bringing them to justice.”

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hank Moon and Michael Martin of the Eastern District of Michigan with assistance from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Read more at the Justice Department