Iraqi men hit with charges of terrorism

Al-Jayab will return to court January 22 for a preliminary hearing.

He did not enter a plea Friday morning in Houston Federal Court.

They were ordered released without cash bond.

Prosecutors in Wisconsin say the three bought iPhones, a laptop and a TV that they believed to be stolen from Chicago and transported to Milwaukee.

One called “Individual I” is Al Hardan, according to Lauren Horwood, a spokesman for the USA attorney in Sacramento.

Al-Jayab and Al Hardan communicated in April 2013, and Al Hardan expressed interest in fighting in Syria.

In addition to the charge of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, he’s charged with procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully and making false statements. Authorities said he eventually fought with various terrorist organizations, including Ansar al-Islam, which in 2014 merged with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after Al-Jayab had returned to the United States.

His attorney, Ben Galloway, says prosecutors agree his client isn’t now a threat.

“This is unequivocally why I required a stop to evacuees entering the US from nations considerably controlled by terrorists”, Abbott said in an announcement.

Omar Al Hardan had come to the U.S.to escape the violence in the family’s homeland.

Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan, left, is escorted by a U.S. Marshal into the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse on Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, in Houston.

These arrests are not related to “national security”, officials said.

The Sacramento man arrested on charges of lying to federal agents in relation to his history with terrorist organizations faced a judge in U.S. District Court in Sacramento for the first time Friday afternoon.

From his Facebook page he appears, in many ways, an ordinary young man. Al-Jayab is a computer science student at American River College with an active social life and affinity for fast cars.

He says he can not give other details, citing privacy laws. In November 2013 he traveled to Syria, returning to the USA in January 2014 and settling in Sacramento.

If convicted, Hardan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

His defense attorney isn’t responding to request for comment.

However, right now the focus of federal investigators is on a man in Houston and another suspect on the west coast.

Al-Jayab is not charged with a crime for participating in the Syrian civil war. That could come if they’re indicted through a grand jury in the coming weeks.

Samer Mohammed Al-Jayab was arrested in California and is undergoing a removal process, CNN affiliate WTMJ reported.

Kanter says there would be no comment on whether these allegations grew out of the terror investigation.

An Iraqi man who bragged about his experience fighting in Syria and a fellow refugee from Texas both face terrorism-related charges, according to federal prosecutors. He promised to provide weapons training to Al Hardan and advised him on how he would be assigned to the battlefield once he arrived in Syria.

Al-Jayab had come later, in 2012, directly from Syria, although he was admitted as a refugee of Iraqi origin. Jayab allegedly also mentored Individual I, giving him advice on weapons, strategy, and his apparent desire to travel to Syria to join militants there.

“It is disturbing, though not surprising, that terrorists have succeeded in exploiting our refugee system to come to the USA and aid ISIS”, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said Friday.

Al Hardan’s brother said his sibling told him Friday in a telephone call from the Federal Detention Center in Houston that he is innocent of the charges he faces.

The 24-year-old Al Hardan, who speaks Arabic and used an interpreter in court, said he lives in a Houston-area apartment, is married and has a child. Al Hardan said he earns about $1,800 per month. He did not say his occupation.

It was not immediately clear whether Hardan or Jayab had retained legal representation.

The three-count federal indictment against him was unsealed Thursday night, revealing Al Hardan provided material support and resources to ISIL starting in May 2014.

Burton said that if there was evidence that Al Hardan was involved with terrorism-related behavior before his last security check, he would not have been granted his permanent resident status.