Mohamed Yousef Elshinawy

On December 14, 2015, the FBI arrested then-30-year-old Mohamed Yousef Elshinawy at his home in Edgewood, Maryland.Alan Goldman, “Maryland man accused of receiving $9,000 from ISIS to carry out attack on American soil,” Washington Post, December 14, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/maryland-man-charged-with-supporting-the-islamic-state/2015/12/14/1d8eafb2-a277-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html. Elshinawy was charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, obstruction of agency proceedings, and making material false statements and falsifying or concealing material facts.Alan Goldman, “Maryland man accused of receiving $9,000 from ISIS to carry out attack on American soil,” Washington Post, December 14, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/maryland-man-charged-with-supporting-the-islamic-state/2015/12/14/1d8eafb2-a277-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.“UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MOHAMED ELSHINAWY – JUDGEMENT IN A CRIMINAL CASE,” United States District Court – District of Maryland, April 2, 2018, https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Mohamed%20Elshinawy%20Judgment.pdf, 2-3.

Elshinawy was taken into custody after he allegedly received thousands of dollars from ISIS operatives. ISIS militants reportedly instructed Elshinawy to commit an attack similar to the thwarted May 2015 attack at the “Draw Muhammad” contest in Garland, Texas. Elshinawy had allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS and desired to die as a martyr.Alan Goldman, “Maryland man accused of receiving $9,000 from ISIS to carry out attack on American soil,” Washington Post, December 14, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/maryland-man-charged-with-supporting-the-islamic-state/2015/12/14/1d8eafb2-a277-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html.

Elshinawy received money from ISIS operatives via both PayPal and Western Union. He received at least $8,700 between March and June 2015, and used a portion of this money to purchase a laptop computer, a cell phone, calling cards, Internet hotspot access, and a private VPN network. The cell phones, laptops, and Internet access purchases were allegedly used to communicate with ISIS militants overseas.“United States of America v. Mohamed Elshinawy,” United States District Court for the District of Maryland, December 11, 2015, 12, http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/798901/download.

Elshinawy has denied any plan to attack the United States, insisting that he only wanted to take money from ISIS, who he called “thieves.”Alan Goldman, “Maryland man accused of receiving $9,000 from ISIS to carry out attack on American soil,” Washington Post, December 14, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/maryland-man-charged-with-supporting-the-islamic-state/2015/12/14/1d8eafb2-a277-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html.

Monitored communications between Elshinawy and an unnamed childhood friend revealed that Elshinawy was allegedly planning to join his friend overseas and fight for ISIS. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Elshinawy had instructed his friend to listen to the “lessons of [Abu Mohammed] al-Adnani,” ISIS’s official spokesman.“United States of America v. Mohamed Elshinawy,” United States District Court for the District of Maryland, December 11, 2015, 13, http://www.justice.gov/opa/file/798901/download.

On August 15, 2017, Elshinawy pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS, collection of terrorist financing, and making false statements in a terrorism matter.Lynh Bui, “Md. Man Pleads Guilty to Accepting Nearly $9,000 to Help Carry Out U.S. Terrorist Attack,” Washington Post, August 15, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/md-man-pleads-guilty-to-accepting-nearly-9000-to-help-carry-out-us-terror-attack/2017/08/15/88fb2dc8-81fc-11e7-ab27-1a21a8e006ab_story.html. On March 30, 2018, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of post-release supervision.“UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. MOHAMED ELSHINAWY – JUDGEMENT IN A CRIMINAL CASE,” United States District Court – District of Maryland, April 2, 2018, https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Mohamed%20Elshinawy%20Judgment.pdf, 2-3. Elshinawy is currently incarcerated at Petersburg Medium Federal Correctional Institution, in Hopewell, Virginia, with a scheduled release date of December 25, 2032.“MOHAMED ELSHINAWY,” Find an Inmate – Federal Bureau of Prisons, accessed April 15, 2021, https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/.

Also Known As

Extremist entity
ISIS
Type(s) of Organization:
Insurgent, territory-controlling, religious, terrorist, violent
Ideologies and Affiliations:
Islamist, jihadist, pan-Islamist, Salafist, takfiri
Position(s):
Foreign fighter, facilitator, homegrown conspirator

ISIS is a violent jihadist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group has declared wilayas (provinces) in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the North Caucasus. ISIS has also waged attacks in Turkey, Lebanon, France, Belgium, Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, and Kuwait.

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In Their Own Words:

We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].

Abu Ali al-Askari, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) Security Official Mar. 2023
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