Air Force Vet, First American Convicted of Trying to Join Islamic State, Sentenced to 35 Years

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh

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“Today, Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, a U.S. citizen and former member of the U.S. Air Force, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and obstruction of justice,” announced the Department of Justice (DOJ), noting that News Jersey resident was convicted in March 2016.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced the wannabe jihadist on Wednesday.

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In January 2015, Pugh traveled to Turkey from Egypt to cross the border into Syria and engage in jihad on behalf of ISIS.

Turkish authorities denied the American Air Force veteran entry and returned him to Egypt. Pugh attempted to destroy evidence in Istanbul.

“Foreign government officials quickly deported the defendant to the U.S., where the FBI closely monitored him, relying in part on a covert undercover employee who encountered the defendant at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City,” notes the DOJ.

Authorities arrested Pugh on January 16, 2015, in New Jersey.

In a letter drafted before he left Egypt for Turkey, the defendant proclaimed:

I am a Mujahid. I am a sword against the oppressor and a shield for the oppressed. I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic State. There is only 2 possible outcomes for me. Victory or Martyr.

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