Rochester Man Pleads Guilty To Trying To Recruit ISIS Fighters
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) - A Rochester pizza shop owner has admitted he tried to recruit fighters for the Islamic State group in Syria.
Mufid Elfgeeh pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
Elfgeeh was born in Yemen and is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
Under a plea agreement, Elfgeeh is expected to be sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.
According to the indictment, Elfgeeh tried to arrange for three individuals to travel to Syria to join the extremist group in 2013 and early 2014. Authorities said two of those people were actually FBI informants.
Elfgeeh was arrested after federal authorities said he bought two handguns and two silencers as part of a plan to kill members of the U.S. armed forces returning from war and Shiites in the Rochester area.
The investigation included linking Elfgeeh's home computer to tweets from alias Twitter accounts expressing support for al Qaeda, violent holy war and Sunni insurgent groups in Syria, according to court papers.
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