Source: Office of United States Attorneys
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Springfield man on Dec. 13 on charges relating to his efforts to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which was designated by the United States Secretary of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, from at least October 2019 through October of 2022, Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 35, collected and sent money to female ISIS members in Syria to benefit ISIS in various ways, including by financing the escape of female ISIS members from prison camps and supporting ISIS fighters. Chhipa would raise funds online on various social media accounts. He would receive electronic transfers of funds and travel hundreds of miles to collect funds by hand. He would then convert the money to cryptocurrency and send it to Turkey, where it was smuggled to ISIS members in Syria.
His primary co-conspirator was a British-born ISIS member residing in Syria who was involved in raising funds for prison escapes, terrorist attacks, and ISIS fighters.
Over the course of the conspiracy, the defendant sent over $185,000 in cryptocurrency.
The jury found Chhipa guilty of one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization and four counts of providing and attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Chhipa faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison per count when sentenced on May 5, 2025. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; and David Sundberg, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge David J. Novak accepted the verdict.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anthony T. Aminoff and Amanda St. Cyr for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys Andrea Broach and Andrew John Dixon for the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:23-cr-97.