Michigan man gets 20 years for supporting ISIS, possessing destructive device
A Michigan man was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in federal prison on charges relating to attempting to provide material support to ISIS and possessing a destructive device.
Aws Mohammed Naser, 38, formerly of Westland, Michigan, was convicted in June 2025 on both charges after a trial that lasted five weeks, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said. The jury deliberated for about six hours before returning the verdict.
The activity involved attempting to provide material support through personnel and services to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
"This self-professed 'soldier of the Caliphate' and 'son of the Islamic State' has now faced American justice. We welcomed this traitor into our Nation with open arms. And he repaid us by building a bomb and helping our great enemy," said U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that Naser frequently posted extreme Salafi-Jihadist ideological content on his YouTube channel.
Naser traveled to Iraq with another person in early 2012 and had made plans later that year to travel to Syria, federal authorities said. In the meantime, he researched weapons and watched what federal authorities said was "terrorist propaganda."
His initial effort to leave the United States was from Detroit Metro Airport with luggage that included a rifle scope, a cane sword and a four-inch knife. That attempt was thwarted when he was not allowed to board the plane, federal authorities said. He then made plans to fly from Chicago to Beirut, Lebanon, but was again denied boarding. He was later charged and convicted of armed robbery during an incident in Chicago and served three years in prison.
After his release from prison, federal authorities said Naser focused on how he could support ISIS while in the United States through participation in online chats and obtaining ISIS publications.
The FBI searched his home and vehicle in 2017, finding items that authorities described as "a bomb-making lab."
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force led the investigation.