Orange Man Pleads Guilty To Trying To Provide Support To Terrorist Group
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — An Orange man pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges of attempting to provide material support to ISIL.
Adam Dandach, 21, pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement filed Monday in federal court.
Dandach admitted to trying to travel to Syria between November 2013 and July 2, 2014 with the purpose of providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, according to the plea agreement.
"As Mr. Dandach succumbed to ISIL's online recruiting efforts, the Joint Terrorism Task Force was able to uncover his plan before he left the United States, which prevented this young man from becoming a foreign fighter. As a result of today's guilty pleas, Mr. Dandach now faces a lengthy term in federal prison," United States Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement.
According to court documents, on July 1, 2014, Dandach purchased a ticket to fly from Santa Ana to Istanbul, but was intercepted by the FBI at John Wayne International Airport the following day. Dandach told the FBI that his ultimate destination was Syria and that he intended to pledge allegiance to ISIL's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Dandach also admitted to lying in his passport application about losing his previous passport, which had been taken by a family member the previous year when he expressed interest in going to Syria, federal prosecutors said.
Dandach, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2016, faces up to 25 years in prison for providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and making a false statement in a passport application.
