SAN DIEGO. On December 17, the former San Diego resident pleaded guilty to federal charges of providing money and other resources to support terrorist activities in Syria.
Abdullahi Ahmed Abdullahi admitted in federal court in San Diego to sending money to people with the aim of participating in terrorism abroad, which, according to prosecutors, included “murder, kidnapping and mutilation.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Abdullahi collaborated with several others in these efforts, including Douglas McCain, another former San Diego resident who died in 2014 while fighting alongside the ISIS terrorist group in Syria.
McCain’s brother, Marcello McCain, also a former San Diego resident, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of firearms and lying to federal agents regarding his assistance to people involved in terrorist activities, including his brother and Abdullahi.
Prosecutors allege that Abdullahi robbed a jewelry store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 2014 to raise money to fund Douglas McCain’s trip to Syria. He also encouraged others to commit crimes such as theft in order to raise funds to support terrorist activities, prosecutors said.
A grand jury returned Abdullahi’s indictment in 2017, and about six months later, he was arrested by Canadian authorities. The indictment alleged that Abdullahi facilitated the travel of at least two American citizens and three Canadians to Syria, where they fought on the side of ISIS and were killed sometime in 2014.
Abdullahi was extradited to the United States in October 2019. He is scheduled for an April sentencing hearing in federal court in San Diego.
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