Chicago ISIS Supporter Sentenced to 25 Years

A Chicago federal judge sentenced Mohammed Sabry Soliman to 25 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Soliman, a 39-year-old Egyptian national living in Chicago, pleaded guilty in February 2024. (justice.gov) From 2015 to 2019, Soliman created and published over 40 pro-ISIS videos, articles, essays, and infographics on social media at the direction of ISIS media operatives. He used pseudonyms like "Abu Bilal al-Amriki" and translated content into English to recruit Western supporters, including calls to attack U.S. soldiers. (justice.gov) Soliman's content glorified ISIS battlefield victories and urged attacks on Americans, reaching thousands online before his 2019 arrest by the FBI. He received encrypted instructions via Telegram from ISIS handlers in Syria and Iraq. (fbi.gov) The case stemmed from a multi-year FBI investigation using undercover operations and digital forensics to track Soliman's online activity. Authorities seized devices containing ISIS propaganda files during a raid on his Chicago apartment. (chicagotribune.com) U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual called the sentence a "major blow to ISIS's ability to radicalize Americans online." Judge Thomas Durkin noted Soliman's propaganda fueled real-world violence during ISIS's peak caliphate years. (justice.gov) This sentencing follows a string of U.S. convictions for ISIS online supporters, including a 2023 Minnesota case with a 30-year term for similar video production. The FBI reports over 300 ISIS-linked arrests in the U.S. since 2014, mostly for non-violent material support. (fbi.gov) Soliman's guilty plea avoided trial, where prosecutors planned to present evidence of his direct communications with ISIS's al-Hayat Media Center. He faces deportation after his sentence. (apnews.com) Federal counterterrorism efforts now prioritize disrupting online radicalization, with the Justice Department securing 25-year maximums in half of material support cases since 2020. (justice.gov)