UPDATE: ISIL-Related Raid Results In New Jersey Man's Arrest

A New Jersey man was arrested in his Fort Lee home on Wednesday and charged with providing support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Samuel Rahamin Topaz, 21, was charged with one count of conspiring with others in New Jersey and New York to provide services and personnel to ISIL.

Topaz made an initial court appearance in front of a federal judge in Newark on Thursday.

The charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, authorities stated.

According to court documents and statements:

The FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) have been investigating a group of individuals from New York and New Jersey who have allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIL. Conspirator 1 (CC-1) was a resident of Rutherford, New Jersey, until departing the United States on May 5 to allegedly join ISIL.

Conspirator 2 (CC-2) was a resident of Queens, New York, until he was arrested June 13, 2015, in New York on terrorism charges.

Conspirator 3 (CC-3) is a resident of New Jersey.

According to authorities, on May 1, Topaz discussed CC-1’s plan to travel overseas to join ISIL. CC-1 sent Topaz a message stating that he would be leaving in a few days and asked, “[d]id you do what i [sic] advised you to do.”

Topaz allegedly responded, “I’m saving my money for it bro trust me I got it.”

According to authorities, on May 4, Topaz stated that he had his passport but needed cash to purchase his ticket. CC-2 replied, “My trip is looking months away[.] if u can take a loan out for 5k or even 2.5k then ur [sic] good, they take US dollars in dawla so u can eat and buy stuff, and they provide u with housing when u reach the land of Islam.”

Topaz and CC-2 then discussed that they would be reuniting with CC-1 in Turkey before going to the dawla. CC-2 stated that CC-1 would go first, and then they would join him soon thereafter.

According to authorities, on May 21, Topaz and CC-3 discussed that they needed to “lay low” and refrain from taking action in furtherance of the conspiracy to provide material support to ISIL that might be detected by law enforcement. Topaz also told CC-3 that they need to discuss “hijra” in person. Topaz later told members of the JTTF that he and his conspirators used the term “hijra” (often spelled “hijrah”) to refer to traveling overseas to join ISIL.

On June 13, 2015, CC-2 was arrested by the FBI and charged in a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York with conspiring to provide material support to ISIL.

On June 15, 2015, Topaz allegedly wrote to an unidentified individual that CC-2 had not been answering his phone and added, “We gotta leave ASAP.”