A former San Diego resident who helped fund the travel of North Americans who fought overseas for ISIS was sentenced Monday to 20 years in federal prison.
Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi, 37, pleaded guilty last year to federal charges stemming from his financial assistance of six Americans and Canadians who traveled to Syria to engage in"armed battles to gain control of the territories and civilian populations within Syria" on behalf of ISIS, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors say Abdullahi wired funds to ISIS members overseas and took part in an armed robbery of a Canadian jewelry store in order to acquire money to pay for his co-conspirators' travel. In addition to the jewelry store holdup, prosecutors say Abdullahi recruited and encouraged others to commit crimes such as theft in order to collect funds to support terrorist activities. The U.S. Attorney's Office said he claimed crimes of that sort against the"kuffar," or non-Muslims, were permissible under Islamic law.
The prosecution's sentencing papers state that Abdullahi's family and the McClain family previously lived near Minneapolis, then moved to San Diego, where Abdullahi lived for about six years. Abdullahi's family later moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where he committed the jewelry store robbery in January 2014.