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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to ISIL Support

(CN) - A Fort Lee, N.J., man who was in turned in by his mother pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Samuel Rahamin Topaz was arrested by the FBI on June 17, 2015, on charges that he and a number of friends planned to stage an attack on the White House because they'd been stymied in their attempted to travel to Syria and join the terror organization.

In court documents, prosecutors said Topaz's mother grew concerned that her son's friends were going to convince him to "do something stupid," and called the authorities. Her worries led to an FBI/Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation that resulted in the arrest of six men in Brooklyn, N.Y., and New Jersey.

In addition to her son, also arrested and facing charges of attempting to assist a terrorist organization were Nader Saadeh, a high school friend of Topaz; Saadeh's older brother, Alaa; Munther Omar Saleh, an engineering student who investigators believe was planning on building a pressure cooker bomb; Fareed Mumuni, who allegedly attacked arresting officers with a kitchen knife; and an unidentified juvenile.

Appearing before U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark Federal Court, Topaz pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring with others to provide services and other material support to ISIL.

Topaz admitted to knowing that ISIL was a designated foreign terrorist organization taking over territory overseas, expelling non-Muslims from their homes and executing individuals who did not obey ISIL's commands.

He also admitted that they all watched ISIL-related videos, some of which depicted the execution of non-Muslims and individuals regarded as apostates from Islam. His alleged co-conspirators are still awaiting trial.

Topaz is scheduled to be sentenced in November. He faces more than 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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