Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 48, has been charged with obstruction of justice and attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Jury selection for his trial in federal court in New York City is expected to begin in earnest this week.
According to an indictment, he was carrying 180 terrorist propaganda videos including one that featured the decapitation of an ISIS prisoner. Prosecutors say they found a letter to his wife on his computer. The letter expressed Pugh’s commitment to join ISIS.
Pugh joined the Air Force in 1986, after being trained to install and maintain aircraft engines as well as navigation and weapons systems. He left the Air Force in 1990 when he began working as an aviation specialist and mechanic for companies throughout the Middle East.
Court papers indicate that in a letter to his wife, Pugh wrote: “I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States.”
“There is only two possible outcomes for me: Victory or martyr,” the letter continues.
In 2001, one of Pugh’s associates tipped the FBI that Pugh had expressed sympathy for Osama Bin Laden. In 2002, the same associate warned the FBI that Pugh had been plotting to wage Jihad in Chechnya.
Pugh pleaded not guilty to his charges.
According to the Fordham School of Law’s National Security Center, the US government has charged 78 people in connection with the group. Of those, two dozen have pleaded guilty.
