WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2021) Uzbek national Dilshod Khusanov has pleaded guilty to an attempt to provide material support to the Islamic State and Al-Nusra (terrorist groups, both banned in Russia) as part of a conspiracy group, the US Department of Justice said on Monday.
"An Illinois man pleaded guilty today to attempting to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front (ANF)," the Justice Department said in a press release.
It is alleged that Khusanov along with other co-conspirators was encouraging individuals to travel to Syria to become a jihad fighter and participate in a holy war in 2014 and 2015, the release said.
Khusanov is the last charged defendant out of a larger group of co-conspirators, including Abror Habibov, Akmal Zakirov, Azizjon Rakhmatov, Akhror Saidakhmetov, and Dilkhayot Kasimov. All members of the group either planned to travel to Syria or provided financial support to those who were willing to become a jihad fighter, according to the release.
Abdurasul Juraboev and Saidakhmetov were sentenced to 15 years in prison and Rakhmatov was sentenced to 12.5 years imprisonment, the release added. Habibov, Kasimov and Zakirov are awaiting sentencing.
In February 2015, Habibov, Zakirov, Rakhamtov and Kasimov were looking for funds to pay Saidakhmetov's travel to Syria and expenses there. Eventually, Saidakhmetov was arrested at JFK airport in New York City while he was boarding a plane to Istanbul, the release said.
If found guilty, Khusanov faces a maximum penalty of 11 years in prison and removal from the United States, the release said.
