Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) A 29-year-old Woodbridge man will spend almost nine years in prison after being convicted of trying to join ISIL.
“With this sentence, Joseph Hassan Farrokh will be held accountable for attempting to travel overseas to join ISIL and to provide material support to the designated terrorist organization,” Assistant Attorney General of National Security John Carlin said in a press release.
Joseph Hassan Farrokh admitted he planned to travel to Syria to fight with ISIL. He got together with another Woodbridge resident 25-year-old Mahmoud Amin Elhassan to plan separate trips to Syria.
Farrokh and Elhassan tried to cover their tracks by communicating with apps they thought the FBI wouldn’t be able to trace. They also met multiple times to plan their trips and talk about how to avoid being caught. Farrokh decided he could fly under the radar if he shaved his beard and flew out of Richmond International Airport, which the two thought would have less security than Dulles. He told his family he was going to Saudi Arabia to study.
The men set their plan in action in January when Elhassan picked up Farrokh and dropped him off a mile from the Richmond Airport. From there Farrokh took a cab to the airport. As he made his way to his gate, he was arrested.
Meanwhile, El-Hassan could spend nearly 50 years in prison for helping Farrokh and lying about it to the FBI. According to an indictment in May, Elhassan told the FBI Farrokh took a flight out of Dulles to go to a funeral in California and planned to fly back in two weeks. He also denied that either of them supported ISIL or tried to join.
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