Ohio man pleads guilty for his involvement with terrorist group

MINNEAPOLIS — Earlier today in federal court here, a 27-year-old man from Westerville, Ohio, pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide money and personnel to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization based in Somalia.

Ahmed Hussein Mahamud, formerly of Eden Prairie, Minn., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Mahamud, who was indicted on June 7, 2011, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis.

In his plea agreement, Mahamud admitted that from 2008 through February 2011, he conspired with others to provide money and people to al-Shabaab, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, in its fight against the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) and the Ethiopian military, which supports the TFG.

The defendant also admitted that he and his co-conspirators raised money from the Somali-American community in Minnesota under false pretenses to pay for men in Minnesota to travel to Somalia to join al Shabaab.

Further, Mahamud admittedly sent money via wire transfers to a co-conspirator in Somalia, knowing the money would be used to purchase weapons or otherwise support al-Shabaab.

The charge levied against Mahamud carries a potential maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison. A federal judge will determine the actual sentence at a hearing not yet scheduled.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force, with assistance from the FBI’s JTTF in Columbus, Ohio.