DOJ Seeks 15-Year Sentence for Connecticut Man Who Tried to Join ISIS

The Justice Department is seeking a 15-year prison sentence followed by lifetime supervised release for Ahmad Khalil Elshazly of West Haven, Conn., who pleaded guilty in 2022 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He was arrested in December 2019 while approaching a boat he believed would take him to Turkey, from where prosecutors […]

The Justice Department is seeking a 15-year prison sentence followed by lifetime supervised release for Ahmad Khalil Elshazly of West Haven, Conn., who pleaded guilty in 2022 to attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He was arrested in December 2019 while approaching a boat he believed would take him to Turkey, from where prosecutors said he intended to travel to Syria and join ISIS.
Prosecutors said Elshazly spent more than a year seeking ways to reach ISIS and administered a pro-ISIS Discord server where he distributed jihadist content, including execution videos, bomb-making guides and calls for attacks in the West.
The government said there is no evidence Elshazly has deradicalized during nearly seven years in custody. Prosecutors said a 2025 search of his cell uncovered handwritten plans for an inmate uprising, including maps of the detention facility and instructions for resisting correctional officers. His offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.