Credit: Butler County Jail
Credit: Butler County Jail
Almadaoji pleaded guilty in November 2021 just before his jury trial was scheduled to begin. He admitted to attempting to provide material support — himself, as personnel — to foreign terrorist organizations ISIS and ISIS-Khorasan.
“Almadaoji was not just an ideological supporter of terrorism, he attempted to train to fight, assassinate, kidnap and kill, in hopes of employing violence in America on behalf of ISIS,” Parker stated. “Thanks to the FBI and our other law enforcement partners, Almadaoji was ultimately unsuccessful in his plan to become a human weapon and will now spend a decade in federal prison.”
The U.S. Attorney’s office said that Almadaoji, a U.S. citizen born in Iraq, bought a plane ticket for travel on Oct. 24, 2018, to Astana, Kazahkstan, where he would be smuggled into Afghanistan so that he could join and get military training from ISIS-K.
Almadaoji told someone he believed to be an ISIS supporter that he wanted “weapons experts training, planning and executing, hit and run, capturing high value targets, ways to break into homes and avoid security guards. That type of training,” according to the release.
He also spoke of his plot to start a conflict in the U.S. between the federal government and anti-government militias and asked an individual posing as an ISIS supporter how to make a car bomb, the release stated.
He traveled to Egypt and Jordan in February 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to join the ISIS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula, court documents stated.
Almadaoji recorded and sent a video of himself wearing a headscarf and pledging allegiance to the leader of ISIS. He told the person posing as an ISIS supporter he was “always willing” to assist with “projects” in the U.S. and also translated a purported ISIS document from Arabic to English, telling his contact, “Don’t thank me … it’s my duty,” the release stated.
About the Author
