DETROIT (FOX 2) - A Detroit man who attempted to send Bitcoin to ISIS with the intention of that cryptocurrency helping other people join the terror organization is now serving a nine-year prison sentence.
Jibreel Pratt, 26, pleaded guilty over the summer to two counts of concealing cryptocurrency donations.
The backstory:
Investigators say that in February 2022, Pratt initiated a conversation with a Confidential Human Source (CHS) who he believed was an ISIS member who could help get him overseas to join ISIS.
Over the next several months, law enforcement said Pratt told him he wanted to travel overseas to join ISIS and recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS’s leader.
Pratt also provided ideas, information, documents and handwritten notes on tactics, including how ISIS could use drones and remote-controlled cars to deliver explosives, organize intelligence operations, and improve its air defense systems.
In March and May 2023, Pratt then sent cryptocurrency to the CHS, intending that the money would be used to help pay for the travel of others allegedly traveling to join ISIS and/or to help fund a man who Pratt believed would commit an act of violence in support of ISIS.
Investigators say Pratt concealed the nature and source of his Bitcoin transfers by using a private VPN and an app that encrypted keys and transaction data.
What they're saying:
"Over these last years, our office has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the FBI to protect Americans from hardened ISIS supporters in our midst. Mr. Pratt is the latest traitor who—in his own words—operated ‘in the shadows.’ And we will continue to stand guard because he may not be the last," said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon.
The Source: This information is from a DOJ press release.
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