New Jersey man pleads guilty to conspiring to support Islamic State
By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New Jersey man pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiring to support Islamic State, the latest conviction in a series of U.S. prosecutions against so-called "lone wolf" sympathizers of the militants who control parts of Iraq and Syria.
Nader Saadeh, 20, is among six young men in New York and New Jersey arrested by federal authorities since June as part of a broader investigation. He faces up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Newark, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Last week's shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, by a married couple who authorities believe acted in the name of Islamic State has stoked concern in the United States that other radicalized individuals could be inspired by the group to carry out similar attacks.
U.S. authorities have arrested more than 70 people in the last two years for suspected ties to the militant Islamist group.
Prosecutors said Saadeh expressed support for Islamic State and its use of brutality and spent time viewing the group's online propaganda.
He traveled to Jordan in May with the intention of making his way to either Iraq or Syria to join the group, prosecutors said, but was detained by Jordanian authorities.
His guilty plea comes after his brother, Alaa Saadeh, and another New Jersey man, Samuel Topaz, both pleaded guilty to their role in the same conspiracy. Alaa Saadeh and Topaz admitted in court they had also discussed traveling overseas to join Islamic State.
Federal agents have arrested three other men in the probe.
Munther Omar Saleh, a college student in New York City, also talked with the Saadeh brothers and Topaz about joining Islamic State. He was arrested alongside a 17-year-old in June when the two got out of their car and ran at federal agents who had been following them in a surveillance vehicle.
Prosecutors said Saleh and the teenager, who has not been identified, had discussed plans to build an explosive device to set off in New York. A U.S. judge recently granted the government's request to try the teenager as an adult.
Fareed Mumuni, a New York man also accused of conspiring with Saleh, was arrested in June after authorities said he tried to stab a federal agent executing a search warrant at his home.
A lawyer for Saadeh was not immediately available for comment. Saadeh is scheduled to be sentenced on March 18.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Grant McCool and Frances Kerry)
