A 23-year-old Orlando man will spend the next six years behind bars for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his intent to join the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.
Moad Mohamed Benkabbou was sentenced to six years in federal prison this week in the Middle District of Florida for making false statements to the FBI during an interview about ISIS.
According to court records, Benkabbou was asked if he had ever talked about ISIS with a person known to the FBI, if he had ever made plans to travel overseas to join ISIS, and if he had ever pledged his allegiance to ISIS.
Despite answering that he had not, evidence showed that Benkabbou swore an oath to support ISIS in January 2020, made plans to travel to Turkey and Syria to fight for ISIS, sent money to support ISIS, purchased airplane tickets in August 2020 and January 2021, and sent ISIS propaganda videos to others.
Those included ISIS-sponsored videos showing executions of American allies fighting ISIS.
Benkabbou also allegedly sent a picture of himself dressed as an ISIS fighter with the statement “Hey Crusaders hey Jews die within your rage.”
Benkabbou had been facing a maximum sentence of eight years in federal prison after he pled guilty to two counts of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in May 2023.