Washington: For attempting to give material assistance to ISIS, a Pakistani doctor who was residing in the US was given an 18-year prison term.
On August 25, 2023, Muhammad Masood, a Pakistani physician and former Mayo Clinic research coordinator who wanted to fight in Syria with the Islamic State terrorist organisation, was given an 18-year prison sentence.
A statement by the US Justice Department read, "A Rochester man was sentenced today to 216 months in prison, equivalent to 18 years, followed by five years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation."
According to the Justice Department, the Pakistani doctor, identified as Muhammad Masood (31), travelled from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) to board a flight bound for Los Angeles, California. Upon arrival at MSP, Masood checked in for his flight and was subsequently arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
According to court records, Masood was formerly working as a research coordinator at a medical centre in Rochester, Minnesota, while on an H-1B visa. Masood is a licensed physician in Pakistan.
"Between January 2020 and March 2020, Masood used an encrypted messaging application to facilitate his travel overseas to join a terrorist organization. Masood made multiple statements about his desire to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), and he pledged his allegiance to the designated terrorist organization and its leader. Masood also expressed his desire to conduct “lone wolf” terrorist attacks in the United States," the statement read.
