TerrorismSix charged in St. Louis for supporting terrorism
In a terrorism-related investigation that involved the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, , and police in St. Louis and St. Louis County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged three St. Louis County residents, two New York residents, and one person from Illinois – all immigrated to the United States from Bosnia —with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and for providing material support to terrorists. The six raised and sent money and supplies to Jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq.
In a terrorism-related investigation that involved the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service, and police in St. Louis and St. Louis County, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged three St. Louis County residents: Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, and Armin Harcevic; along with Nihad Rosic of New York, and Mediha Medy Salkicevic and Jasminka Ramic of Illinois, with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and for providing material support to terrorists. Ramiz Hodzic and Rosic were also charged with conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison. The charge of conspiring to provide material support or proving material support to a designated terrorist organization carries a penalty of up to fifteen years in prison for each count and/or fines up to $250,000.
In a conspiracy that began in 2013, the group donated their own money and solicited money in the United States for fighters in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere. The Hodzics sent more than $10,000 in cash and supplies, including U.S. military uniforms, combat boots, and military surplus gear to third parties in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, according to the indictment. The couple also sent money to Montenegro, Bosnia, and Herzegovina via Western Union and Paypal to support the families of fighters.
The indictment claims that all six immigrated to the United States from Bosnia, three have become naturalized citizens, and the rest either have refugee or legal resident status. Five of the defendants have been arrested and Ramic is overseas.
St. Louis Todayreports that the conspirators used Facebook, e-mails, and phones to communicate, coordinate, gather support, and update each other about the status of fighters fighting alongside the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and al-Nusrah Front.
William Woods, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s St. Louis Division, said in a released statement that “the indictment unsealed today epitomizes the FBI’s commitment to disrupting and holding accountable those who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations. This case underscores the clear need for continued vigilance in rooting out those who seek to join or aid terrorist groups that threaten our national security.”
One of the fighters the group supported was a former St. Louis-area resident, Abdullah Ramo Pazara, who traveled to Syria in July 2013. In March 2014, he boasted via Facebook that he had just returned from a mission where fighters killed eleven people and captured one. Pazara was killed while fighting in Syria, according to news reports. “We are operating under the assumption that Pazara was killed in 2014,” a U.S. official said last Friday.
