SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento grand jury returned an indictment today charging Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, of Sacramento, with one count of making a false statement involving international terrorism, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
Al-Jayab is in custody and is scheduled for arraignment on January 22, 2016, at 2:00 PM in courtroom 25 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman. Al-Jayab was arrested by criminal complaint on Jan. 7, 2016.
According to the indictment, on Oct. 6, 2014, Al-Jayab was interviewed by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and indicated that he had not ever: been a member of any rebel group or militia; provided material support for any person or group engaged in terrorist activity; and been a member of a group, or assisted in a group, which used or threatened the use of weapons against others. Al-Jayab also allegedly stated during the interview that he had traveled to Turkey in late 2013 and early 2014 to visit his grandmother. The indictment alleges that all of the aforementioned statements are false.
If convicted, Al-Jayab faces a maximum statutory penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sacramento Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), a team of federal, state, and local law enforcement agents and officers investigating domestic and international terrorism. Assistant United States Attorney Jill Thomas and Trial Attorney Andrew Sigler of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. The investigation is ongoing.