Defense

Former DC Metro police officer convicted of trying to aid ISIS

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A federal jury on Monday convicted a former Washington, D.C., Metro Transit Police officer for obstructing justice and trying to support the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The jury convicted Nicholas Young, 38, of Fairfax, Va., on charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice, the Justice Department said in a statement.

“Nicholas Young swore an oath to protect and defend, and instead violated the public’s trust by attempting to support ISIS,” said Dana Boente, assistant attorney general for the department.

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Young was arrested in August at Metro headquarters after he purchased special communication technologies that authorities say he intended to send to ISIS to communicate with potential recruits without detection. 

He believed an associate — an informant with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force — had joined ISIS in 2014. Young met and emailed undercover investigators dozens of times, and wondered if it was possible to send donations to ISIS. 

In November 2014, Young sent a text to his friend to attempt to make the FBI think the friend was on vacation in Turkey.

“In actuality, Young believed the [friend] had gone to Turkey and then to Syria in order to join and fight for ISIS,” the statement said.

Young then “attempted to deceive investigators as to the destination and purpose” of the friend’s travel during contacts between Dec. 3 and Dec. 5, 2015, according to the statement.

In addition, in July 2016, “Young attempted to provide material support and resources to ISIS by purchasing and sending gift card codes that he believed would allow ISIS recruiters to securely communicate with potential ISIS recruits.”

Young will be sentenced on Feb. 23 and faces a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.

He joined the Metro Transit Police in 2003.

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