Alabama Couple Pleads Guilty for Providing Material Support to IS - US Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - An Alabama couple with ties to the Islamic State* pleaded guilty for attempting to provide material support to the terror group, the US Justice Department said in a press release.

"Today in the Southern District, Arwa Muthana, 30, of Hoover Alabama, pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, aka ISIS, a designated foreign terrorist organization," the release said on Monday. "On Friday, her husband James Bradley, aka Abdullah, 21, of the Bronx, entered a guilty plea to the same charge."

The Justice Department said Bradley and Muthana attempted to travel to the Middle East to join and fight for Islamic State, the release said.

In May 2020, Bradley told an undercover law enforcement officer he believed the Islamic State may be a good organization because it was seeking to establish a caliphate and spoke of his wish to launch a terrorist attack in the United States if he could not leave the country, the release said.

In June of that year, Bradley told the undercover agent that he wanted to attack a military base as a contribution to the cause of Islamic jihad. He then married Muthana in an Islamic ceremony in January 2021 and then discussed, planned and ultimately attempted to travel to the Middle East together to join and fight with Islamic State, the release said.

Muthana and her husband were arrested as they were boarding a cargo ship, the release also said.

Bradley and Muthana each pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and could end up serving 20 years in prison, according to the release.

* The Islamic State is a terrorist group banned in Russia