Chicago Man Who Worked With ISIS Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison: Authorities

CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for conspiring to support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham by using social media to encourage attacks on ISIS’s enemies and recruit members, authorities said.

Ashraf Al Safoo, 41, was a leader of Khattab Media Foundation, a sophisticated online organization that swore allegiance to ISIS and created and disseminated threats and ISIS propaganda on social media and other online platforms, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Al Safoo and other members of Khattab created and posted pro-ISIS videos, articles, essays and infographics at the direction of, and in coordination with, ISIS, authorities said.

Many of Khattab’s postings included images of violence, celebrations of terrorist attacks and mass shootings in the U.S., and encouragement for “lone wolf” attacks in western countries, according to the department.

Al Safoo has been in federal custody since his 2018 arrest in Chicago, authorities said, adding he immigrated to the U.S. in 2008 and naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2013.

A judge found Al Safoo guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to transmit threats in interstate commerce, conspiracy to intentionally access a protected computer without authorization, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, and intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization, according to the department.

The judge ordered that the 25-year prison term, which was imposed last week, be followed by 10 years of court-supervised release, authorities said.