Jury returns verdict on vet accused of trying to join ISIS
NEW YORK -- A U.S. Air Force veteran accused of trying to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and die a martyr was convicted Wednesday of federal charges.
An anonymous jury in Brooklyn had begun deliberations Tuesday in the case against 48-year-old Tairod Pugh, of Neptune, New Jersey. His attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the verdict.
The verdict, coming over a week after testimony began, was the first to result from more than 70 cases the government has brought against U.S. citizens accused of trying to support the militant group. Some defendants across the country have pleaded guilty to charges.
"Today's verdict provides yet another example of a successful outcome in our national security effort, and demonstrates the crucial role that law enforcement action plays in that effort," U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Pugh flew to Turkey in January 2015 so he could find a route into Syria and join ISIS. He was forced by authorities to turn back and was arrested soon after his return on a flight to New York City. Pugh was in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990, when he was trained to install and maintain aircraft engines and navigation and weapons systems.
During closing arguments Tuesday, defense lawyer Eric Creizman insisted Pugh had no ill intent when he went to Turkey a month after losing his job as an aviation mechanic and telling his supervisor to stop "talking to me like I'm an idiot." He said Pugh had hoped to move to the Middle East with his wife.
He said his client was feeling small and inconsequential when he started researching the rise of ISIS in the summer of 2014, impressed that Muslims somewhere were trying to establish a country and wouldn't "back down from anything."
"This is a fantasy," Creizman told jurors of Pugh's social media posts that seemed supportive of radical Islamists.
He said his client had always talked about Middle East politics and liked to research the subject online, but he noted that many of the articles he read were written by mainstream news organizations, including some critical of the militants.
Still, he acknowledged that Pugh had opinions some might find offensive and Pugh believed some of ISIS' atrocities were a media creation.
In her closing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiana Demas urged jurors to follow the trail of Pugh's Internet research to discover that he went to Turkey to find a way to sneak into Syria and join ISIS.
She showed jurors an image from Pugh's computer that showed areas controlled by ISIS and said: "This map shows a lot about his intent in Turkey."
Prosecutors had told jurors that Pugh destroyed four computer flash drives when he realized he was being scrutinized by authorities.
During the trial, prosecutors showed jurors materials found on Pugh's computer and cited a letter Pugh wrote to his wife saying, in part: "There is only two possible outcomes for me: Victory or martyr."