Man linked to Islamic State gets 98-month sentence

GRAND RAPIDS (AP) — A Michigan man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group.

Mohamud Muse, 25, was sentenced Thursday to 98 months in prison by a federal judge in Grand Rapids who also ordered the Lansing man to serve 10 years of supervised release after he's released.

He had pleaded guilty last year to a conspiracy charge.  Muse, his brother and another man were arrested in January 2019 at the Grand Rapids airport, where the brother, Muse Muse, was starting a journey to Somalia to join IS, according to federal authorities.

Muse Muse, 22, who is also from Lansing, was sentenced last week to 78 months in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy, the Grand Rapids Press reported.

The third man, Mohamed Haji, also pleaded guilty in connection with the plot. Haji, who is the Muse brothers' cousin, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22.

Prosecutors said Mohamud Muse and his two co-defendants conspired for two years to provide support and resources, including personnel, to the IS, and chose aliases and recorded a video pledge in
support of the militant organization.

The three men are naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in Kenya.