Brother of San Diego Jihadist Believed Killed In ISIL Fight Admits Lying to Feds

SAN DIEGO, CA — Marchello Dsaun McCain pleaded guilty in federal court Monday, admitting that he lied to the FBI in connection with an international terrorism investigation of his brother, Douglas McCain, an American believed killed while fighting with ISIL — the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — in Syria, the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Diego announced.

McCain, 34, is currently being held without bond, with sentencing scheduled for Dec. 19 before U.S. District Judge Thomas Whelan in San Diego, according to a news release.

According to the plea agreement, on Jan. 23, 2015, McCain made material false statements to Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force (FBI-JTTF) agents about his knowledge of his brother’s travel to Syria and the use of a credit card to purchase his brother's airline tickets from the United States to Turkey, a transit point for individuals travelling to Syria.

By pleading guilty, McCain admitted to having discussions with his brother about his brother's plans to travel to Syria to fight the Bashar al-Assad regime. McCain further admitted that he facilitated his brother’s travel by allowing him to use a debit/credit card belonging to his wife to purchase airline tickets to Turkey, and that McCain himself deposited the money for the airline tickets into his wife’s bank account.

Douglas McCain departed the U.S. on March 9, 2014. Approximately five months later, on Aug. 26, 2014, several U.S. media outlets reported that he was killed in Syria fighting for ISIL in a battle against the Free Syrian Army.

Because Marchello McCain admitted that his false statements and his actions in helping purchase a plane ticket involved international terrorism, the statutory maximum penalty for that violation is increased from five years to eight years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

This past January, McCain, a felon previously convicted of two crimes of violence in Minnesota, pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of firearms and ammunition by a felon and one count of possession of body armor by a violent felon.

As part of his January guilty plea to one of the felon in possession counts, McCain admitted that on Feb. 13, 2014, approximately three weeks prior to his brother’s departure to Syria, they went to a San Diego gun range together and shot firearms, including an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle and a Mossberg Model 500 12 gauge pump-action shotgun.

Videos of the shooting range outing were seen on his Instagram page, according to court documents.

“Lying during a terrorism investigation is a very serious crime because the security of our nation and citizens is at stake,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “This case is particularly important because it involves ISIL, a brutal foreign terrorist organization that threatens to induce our youth into committing violence against foreigners and U.S. citizens alike.”

The matter was investigated by the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Federal Air Marshal Service; the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; and the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Border Patrol.

“The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force plays an important role in combating the threat of terrorism in today’s world. The law enforcement collaboration is stronger than ever and essential to protect our communities from harm,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric S. Birnbaum. “The public plays an equal, if not more important, role in protecting the community. We encourage those who encounter individuals who express an intent to do harm or claim allegiance to a terrorist group to voice their concerns to law enforcement.”

The case is being prosecuted in federal court in San Diego by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shane Harrigan and Caroline Han.

In court documents filed in January, Marchello McCain's defense attorney, David Zugman, presented his client's side of the case:

"After his brother got killed in Syria, the United States showed up at Marchello McCain’s door to ask him questions. The agents wanted to know if Marchello knew that Douglas was fighting for ISIS and what he thought of all that. Marchello McCain does not believe that Douglas McCain went to Syria to try to establish a caliphate. Marchello McCain knows his brother. Douglas McCain was a good person. He was funny, artistic, brash, and he liked to have a good time. Douglas McCain had a daughter that he loved and he was close with his family. Douglas also had aspirations. He thought his life was destined for something big. Maybe as a rapper.
"In pursuit of his dreams, Douglas was known to go on extended road-trips for months at a time. He had gone to Sweden previously for a few months to teach English and pursue his dream.
"When Douglas left in early 2014, Marchello McCain did not know exactly what Douglas’s plans were. Marchello McCain’s older brother was unpredictable that way. So when Marchello learned about his brother’s bitter end and then saw the pictures of Douglas dead in the sand, he became overwhelmed with grief and shame and sadness. Marchello McCain worried also about his now fatherless niece.
"Marchello does not and will not believe that Douglas McCain had any interest in doing what ISIS does. When agents came to Marchello McCain’s home to interview him, they found him at home with his wife and two small children (one an infant.) At points during the interview, Marchello was holding his children as the agents started asking McCain about his dead brother and connections to ISIS. It was neither the time nor the place to conduct such an interview. Things only got worse when the agents began stopping and patting-down Marchello McCain’s friends and neighbors that were coming to pay their respects and condolences.
"Even though the agents’ conduct was less than gracious, Marchello McCain agreed to contact them (under some insistence) in the short future. Marchello McCain did. And the agents spoke with him at length about Douglas, Minnesota, his life, converting to Islam, and about terrorism. Through it all, Marchello disclaimed any connection to terrorism. He did not and does not agree that Douglas was fighting for terrorists.
"These voluntary interviews with the FBI which were hours long and involved specific questions about terrorism and ISIS, are not the basis of any of the false claim charges. Instead, the Government is charging McCain for three statements that occurred several hours into his interview after arrest on Jan. 23, 2015.
"The Government accuses McCain of making material false statements about the following: not knowing of Douglas’s McCain’s plans to travel to Syria to fight; not knowing that the credit card of Marchello McCain’s wife was used to buy the plane tickets; that a March 2014 deposit to his wife’s checking account came from student loans.
"All of these statements occurred hours into an late night interview after Marchello McCain had worked a full day at his nine-to-five factory job. And this was an interview which began with the FBI telling Marchello McCain he was under arrest for firearm possession by a felon."

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