USA v. Abood, Bilal
Mesquite, TX

Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL)

[NDTX] Bilal Abood from Mesquite, TX, is charged in a federal indictment with one count of making a false statement to a federal agency. Abood admitted traveling to Syria through Turkey in September 2013 and claimed he went there to fight alongside the Free Syrian Army (FSA). A review of Abood's computer in pursuant to his return from Syria in June 2014, however, revealed he had pledged an oath to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Federal agents also found that Abood had visited the Internet to view ISIL atrocities, including beheadings, and used his Twitter account to tweet information on al-Baghdadi. Abood was sentenced to four years in prison for making false statements to the FBI.