NEW YORK – A husband and wife pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization – The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
According to the complaint, indictment, and other public documents, as well as statements made during court proceedings, James Bradley, also known as “Abdullah,” 21, of the Bronx, and Arwa Muthana, 30, of Hoover, Alabama, are ISIS supporters who attempted to travel to the Middle East to join and fight for ISIS.
Bradley expressed violent extreme views since at least 2019, including his desire to support ISIS by traveling overseas to join the group or commit a terrorist attack in the United States.
He also discussed potentially attacking the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, saying if he could not leave the United States, he would do “something” in the U.S. instead, referring to carrying out an attack.
In late January 2021, Bradley and Muthana married in an Islamic marriage ceremony. Before and after their marriage, both discussed, planned, and ultimately attempted to travel to the Middle East to join and fight with ISIS.
While both in New York, they discussed with an undercover law enforcement officer their desire to travel via cargo ship and to fight for the Islamic State.
Both Bradley and Muthana were arrested as they walked on a gangplank to board a cargo ship on March 25, 2021.
Both pled guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. They are scheduled to be sentenced in February 2023.
