Muhammad Masood, aged 31, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, along with five years of supervised release, after attempting to provide material support to ISIS and plotting to conduct attacks within the United States.
Muhammad Masood, a 31-year-old Pakistani doctor, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his attempt to provide material support to the terrorist organization ISIS and his involvement in planning “lone wolf” terrorist attacks within the United States. This decision was announced on a Friday and is outlined in a statement released by the Department of Justice.
Masood, who was working in the United States on an H-1B visa, pleaded guilty to the charges in August of the previous year and received his sentence from Senior Judge Paul A. Magnuson.
According to court documents, Masood, a licensed medical doctor in Pakistan, had previously worked as a research coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, under the sponsorship of an H-1B visa.
Between January 2020 and March 2020, Masood employed an encrypted messaging application to facilitate his overseas travel plans with the intention of affiliating with a terrorist organization. He consistently expressed his desire to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and pledged allegiance to this designated terrorist group and its leader.
Masood also revealed his aspiration to conduct “lone wolf” terrorist attacks within the United States. In February 2020, he purchased an airplane ticket from Chicago, Illinois, to Amman, Jordan, with the aim of continuing on to Syria. However, his travel plans were thwarted in March when Jordan closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response, Masood altered his plans and decided to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, intending to meet an individual whom he believed could assist him in arranging travel via cargo ship to an area under ISIS control.
Masood journeyed from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) to catch a flight bound for Los Angeles, California. Upon arrival at MSP, he checked in for his flight and was subsequently apprehended by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
