19:10 11.08.2015(updated 19:19 11.08.2015) Get short URL
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A couple from the state of Mississippi have been charged for allegedly trying to support the Islamic State by making plans to travel to Syria and join the militant group, the US Department of Justice announced in a statement on Tuesday.“A Starkville, Mississippi, couple was arrested over the weekend for allegedly conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization,” the statement read.
The investigation into 20-year-old Jaelyn Delshaun Young and 22-year-old Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla began after one of the defendants posted statements about traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State, according to the Justice Department.
The couple obtained passports and made travel arrangements, but US authorities arrested them on August 8, 2015 prior to traveling to Turkey to join the Islamic State in Syria.
If convicted, the couple faces charges of a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
According to US intelligence, up to 30,000 foreign fighters have joined the Islamic State extremists in their fight against the government forces in Syria and Iraq.