In February 2025, 33-year-old Stockton resident Ammaad Akhtar announced his allegiance for the terrorist group after contacting someone he believed to be an Islamic State member.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, said in a statement that he was actually messaging an undercover FBI agent.
In his discussions with the agent, Akhtar allegedly expressed his desire to go abroad and fight for ISIS, according to the prosecution.
Prosecutors claimed that Akhtar transferred money to the agent multiple times while he was being investigated. Akhtar allegedly responded, “May Allah destroy our enemies,” when the agent informed him that the funds had been used to purchase firearms for the Islamic State.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Akhtar also discussed organizing an assault himself, stating that he “wishes to die in the cause of Allah fighting the kuffar [infidels].”
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According to state television, a suicide bomber in Syria killed at least 22 people and injured 63 others when he targeted a crowded church close to the capital, Damascus.
In order to generate a boom during a public gathering, he allegedly also requested directions on how to assemble an explosive device.
Akhtar eventually had a face-to-face meeting with a federal agent on Monday, who was an alleged ISIS contact. Prosecutors claimed that the suspect vowed allegiance to the Islamic State at the meeting and brought two loaded firearms, six more magazines, $400 in cash, clothing, and binoculars.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office accused him with trying to give material support to a foreign terrorist group after he was apprehended on Tuesday.
Akhtar faces a potential sentence of 20 years in jail and a fine of $250,000.
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