Mateo Ventura, 21, was arrested and charged in a complaint on June 8, 2023, and pleaded guilty to one count of concealment of financing of terrorism on Oct. 15. Ventura was convicted of providing multiple electronic gift cards to an individual he believed was an ISIS operative, intending that they be sold on the dark web for under face value with the profits being used to support ISIS.
Undercover FBI officials posed as members of the Islamic State group to extract information about the intended attack, FBI Special Agent James Barnacle, Jr., US federal prosecutor Russ Ferguson and Mint Hill police chief Joseph Hatley told reporters. "He pledged his allegiance to ISIS with that undercover agent, and he disclosed his plans to 'do jihad' soon," Ferguson said, using one of multiple acronyms used to refer to the Islamic State terror group. He disclosed more details to another undercover official, according to Ferguson.
Garza believed he was meeting with another aspiring terrorist, according to the DOJ, but that was not the case. At the meeting, Garza handed the FBI undercover several explosive components. As alleged, Garza explained how to mix the ingredients and surround them with nails, and he offered to send the undercover an instructional bomb-building video, the DOJ said. An undercover New York City Police Department employee first noticed Garza's terrorist sympathies in October, the feds claim.
Abdullah At Taqi, 26, was found guilty on all three counts of an indictment charging him and co-defendant Mohammad David Hashimi with conspiring and attempting to provide support to the designated foreign terrorist organization and conspiring to launder money. The defendants collectively sent thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency and wire transfers to a self-proclaimed ISIS member. "The defendants used Bitcoin. PayPal and GoFundMe to fund ISIS's deadly mission," U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said.
Living in a village near Mosul was full of happiness until the Islamic State invaded. I witnessed the murder of my father and cousin at nine years old.
The couple faces charges for genocide, human trafficking, and crimes against humanity related to their enslavement of Yazidi girls, highlighting Germany's role in prosecuting IS war crimes.
