A 30-year-old Houston man has pleaded guilty to concealing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and making false statements, according to court records.
Anas Said, a pledged supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), used multiple social media accounts to post, share or disseminate ISIS propaganda, prosecutors said. According to the plea agreement, Said also used the messaging app Telegram to discuss ISIS propaganda and received feedback on media he had personally created.
In one exchange detailed in court records, Said discussed sending a video clip to the Sarh al-Khilafah Institution, also known as Tower of the Caliphate, a media entity that agreed to publish it on its channel. Court documents describe Sarh al-Khilafah as an entity that uses social media to produce material ranging from operational security guidance to instructions involving chemicals and explosives. It is also known for aggregating ISIS content online.
Said admitted he knew Sarh al-Khilafah operated on behalf of and in coordination with ISIS, according to prosecutors. Before the video was published, Said removed his name as its designer, thereby concealing his material support of ISIS.
Said also pleaded guilty to lying to law enforcement about a weapon he possessed and discussed on social media. As part of his plea, he admitted making the following statement: “I am thinking and hoping to kill the infidels with a weapon and as many people as possible in order to heal my heart.”
U.S. District Judge David Hittner accepted Said’s guilty plea on July 24 and is scheduled to impose sentencing Oct. 16. Said faces up to 10 years in federal prison for concealing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and up to five years for making material false statements. He could also be ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 on each count. Said has remained in custody and will stay there pending sentencing.
The FBI Houston Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case with special assistance from the Houston and Sugar Land police departments and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The task force also includes the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Secret Service, the Houston Metro Police Department, Customs and Border Protection, and the Federal Air Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Schammel and Liesel Roscher prosecuted the case.
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