A Kissimmee man is expected to spend the next six years in prison after pledging support to ISIS, according to court records released on Wednesday.
Court records show that a plea agreement was accepted in his case, and Moad Mohamed Benkabbou, 22, was found guilty on two counts of lying to investigators. As part of the agreement, a third count was dropped.
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As a result, Benkabbou was sentenced to six years in prison with three years of supervised release. Special conditions of the supervised release are as follows:
- Mental health treatment
- Submit to search
- No contact with extremist or terrorist organization members
- Foreign terrorist material restriction
- Collection of DNA
Benkabbou had expressed support for the terrorist organization and discussed joining the group in 2020, records show.
According to the FBI, Benkabbou pledged his allegiance to ISIS in January 2020.
Benkabbou had spoken with others about traveling overseas to join ISIS and booked a plane ticket in August 2020 to do so, FBI agents said. However, an affidavit shows Benkabbou ultimately canceled the ticket.
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During an international terrorism investigation by the FBI in August 2022, Benkabbou was interviewed by federal law enforcement about his support of ISIS, according to an indictment in January 2023.
The indictment states Benkabbou denied speaking with others about ISIS, planning to join the terrorist group and pledging his allegiance to ISIS.
Officials with the Department of Justice said that Benkabbou sent ISIS-sponsored propaganda videos to others, including videos that showed executions of American allies fighting against ISIS.
In addition, he sent a picture of himself dressed as an ISIS fighter with the statement, “Hey Crusaders hey Jews die within your rage” (sic).
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