US: Pakistani doctor gets 18 years in jail for attempting to support ISIS

New York: A Pakistani doctor, who worked in the US on an H1-B visa, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to terror organisation ISIS and conduct "lone wolf" terrorist attacks in the United States.

Muhammad Masood, 31, was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, a Department of Justice statement said.

He pleaded guilty in August last year and was sentenced before Senior Judge Paul A. Magnuson.

According to court documents, Masood was a licensed medical doctor in Pakistan and was formerly employed as a research coordinator at a medical clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, under an H-1B visa.

Between January 2020 and March 2020, Masood used an encrypted messaging application to facilitate his travel overseas to join a terrorist organization. Masood made multiple statements about his desire to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), and he pledged his allegiance to the designated terrorist organization and its leader.

Masood also expressed his desire to conduct "lone wolf" terrorist attacks in the United States. In February 2020, Masood purchased a plane ticket from Chicago, Illinois, to Amman, Jordan, and from there planned to travel to Syria. In March that year, Masood's travel plans changed because Jordan closed its borders to incoming travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Masood then agreed to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles to meet up with an individual who, he believed, would assist him with travel via cargo ship to deliver him to an ISIS territory.

He travelled from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) to board a flight bound for Los Angeles, California. Upon arrival at MSP, Masood checked in for his flight and was subsequently arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.