Two Tucson men admitted last week that they planned to travel to Egypt and join the Islamic State, federal prosecutors in Arizona say.
Ahmed Mahad Mohamed, 26, and Abdi Yemeni Hussein, 25, both Somalian nationals living in Tucson at the time, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the designated foreign terrorist organization, Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the U.S. Attorneyβs Office said in a news release.
Communication between Mohamed and Hussein from at least August 2018 to their arrest on July 26, 2019, showed they discussed and planned their desire to travel to Egypt and fight for the ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula, the news release says.
Mohamed told other ISIS supporters online about their desire to travel to territories controlled by the ISIS abroad. Mohamed said he wanted to become βthe beheading guyβ and βmartyr himself,β saying his only dream was to βgo to Syria, join ISIS, and βfight jihad,ββ the news release said.
In a 2019 meeting, Hussein told Mohamed their two options were to reach ISIS-territory or βgo to jail,β the release says.
Hussein also talked about attacking the White House if they werenβt allowed to travel, the release said.
The two began preparations to travel by June the same year, including selling their cars and booking flight tickets from Tucson to Cairo.
Their flight was booked for July 26, 2019, when the two checked in for their flight from Tucson International Airport with Mohamed carrying $10,000 on him for travel expenses as well as to buy weapons.
The two were arrested by the FBI before they could board the flight.
The men face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, the news release said.
They are set to be sentenced Oct. 11 by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps.
After prison, the pair will be deported to to Somalia, the release said.
