A Northern Virginia man was sentenced last week to more than 30 years in prison for providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and ISIS.
Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 35, of Springfield, was sentenced May 7 to 364 months.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, from 2019 through 2022, Chhipa collected and sent money to female ISIS members in Syria to benefit ISIS in various ways, including by financing the escape of female ISIS members from prison camps and supporting ISIS fighters.
Chhipa would raise funds online on various social media accounts. He would also receive electronic transfers of funds and travel hundreds of miles to collect funds by hand. He would then convert the money to cryptocurrency and send it to Turkey, where it was smuggled to ISIS members in Syria.
His primary co-conspirator was an ISIS member residing in Syria who was involved in raising funds for prison escapes, terrorist attacks and ISIS fighters.
Over the course of the conspiracy, Chhipa sent more than $185,000 in cryptocurrency.
A federal jury convicted Chhipa of one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization and four counts of providing and attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization in December.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case.
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Crystal Graham
