Overview

Jasminka Ramic is a Chicago-area Bosnian immigrant“Jasminka Ramic Arrested in Germany,” Mystateline.com, February 12, 2015, http://www.mystateline.com/fulltext-news/d/story/update-jasminka-ramic-arrested-in-germany/27255/Xtb0z4AfSU-ZB3JIgXg-hg. who was convicted of providing material support to ISIS. Working through a St. Louis-based intermediary (and fellow Bosnian immigrant), Ramic funneled $700 to presumed ISIS facilitators in Turkey.Justin Glawe, “Accused of Sending Social Security Checks to ISIS,” Daily Beast, February 10, 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/10/accused-of-sending-social-security-checks-to-isis.html. Ramic allegedly tried to recruit others to contribute financially to ISIS fighters in Syria and Iraq.“Jasminka Ramic Arrested in Germany,” Mystateline.com, February 12, 2015, http://www.mystateline.com/fulltext-news/d/story/update-jasminka-ramic-arrested-in-germany/27255/Xtb0z4AfSU-ZB3JIgXg-hg. On February 10, 2015, Ramic was arrested in Germany and transferred to U.S. custody.“Jasminka Ramic Arrested in Germany,” Mystateline.com, February 12, 2015, http://www.mystateline.com/fulltext-news/d/story/update-jasminka-ramic-arrested-in-germany/27255/Xtb0z4AfSU-ZB3JIgXg-hg. Ramic pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges of providing aid to terrorist groups on September 28, 2015,Jim Salter, “Woman pleads guilty to role in effort to aid terror groups,” Associated Press, September 28, 2015, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/476faa33da004a04be34c06f7b3dd652/woman-pleads-guilty-role-effort-aid-terror-groups. and was sentenced to three years in federal prison.Jennifer S. Mann, “Woman Gets 3 Years in Terror Funding Case with St. Louis Ties,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 5, 2016, https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-gets-3-years-in-terror-funding-case-with-st-louis-ties/article_a4777e13-0390-539c-9938-c814d317c66e.html. She was released in October 2017.“JASMINKA RAMIC,” Find an Inmate – Federal Bureau of Prisons, accessed April 11, 2021, https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.

For less than a month in 2012, Ramic reportedly worked as a substitute nutrition services worker in the U.S. public school system.“Jasminka Ramic Arrested in Germany,” Mystateline.com, February 12, 2015, http://www.mystateline.com/fulltext-news/d/story/update-jasminka-ramic-arrested-in-germany/27255/Xtb0z4AfSU-ZB3JIgXg-hg. Her family declared bankruptcy in the same year. Ramic’s only source of income was a monthly Social Security disability check in the amount of $579.Justin Glawe, “Accused of Sending Social Security Checks to ISIS,” Daily Beast, February 10, 2015, http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/10/accused-of-sending-social-security-checks-to-isis.html. She later moved to Germany.Jim Salter, “Woman pleads guilty to role in effort to aid terror groups,” Associated Press, September 28, 2015, http://bigstory.ap.org/article/476faa33da004a04be34c06f7b3dd652/woman-pleads-guilty-role-effort-aid-terror-groups.

According to her attorney, Ramic wanted to send money to Syria to help women and children who were wounded in the Syrian government’s August 2013 chemical gas attack. Allegedly, Ramic initially believed that the money she sent to Syria was supporting an individual helping Syrian orphans. However, Ramic continued to send money even after she learned that the individual was actually a terrorist fighter. She reportedly sent $700 on at least three occasions to Syria in 2013. Some of the money was used to purchase a U.S. military jacket, combat boots, and a rifle scope.Jennifer S. Mann, “Woman Gets 3 Years in Terror Funding Case with St. Louis Ties,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 5, 2016, https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-gets-3-years-in-terror-funding-case-with-st-louis-ties/article_a4777e13-0390-539c-9938-c814d317c66e.html.

On September 28, 2015, Ramic pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS and al-Qaeda in Iraq.Associated Press and Jim Salter, “Woman Pleads Guilty to Role in Effort to Aid Terror Groups,” Vallejo Times-Herald, September 28, 2015, https://www.timesheraldonline.com/2015/09/28/woman-pleads-guilty-to-role-in-effort-to-aid-terror-groups/. On January 5, 2016, she was sentenced to three years in federal prison and three years of post-release supervision. At sentencing, Judge Catherine Perry acknowledged Ramic’s initial altruistic motives, but imposed a sentence that was “sufficient but not greater than necessary,” given that Ramic continued to send money even after she knew it was financing terrorists.Jennifer S. Mann, “Woman Gets 3 Years in Terror Funding Case with St. Louis Ties,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 5, 2016, https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/woman-gets-3-years-in-terror-funding-case-with-st-louis-ties/article_a4777e13-0390-539c-9938-c814d317c66e.html.

Ramic was released from prison on October 6, 2017.“JASMINKA RAMIC,” Find an Inmate – Federal Bureau of Prisons, accessed April 11, 2021, https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.