Former Brooklyn resident sentenced to life in prison for aiding Islamic State group as sniper
Also: American Citizen Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Plus Seventy Years for Providing Material Support to ISIS that Resulted in Death (U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York)
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Source: Associated Press
Former Brooklyn resident sentenced to life in prison for aiding Islamic State group as sniper
BY JAKE OFFENHARTZ
Updated 4:46 PM EDT, October 17, 2023
New York (AP) — A former New York stock broker who fled his job and family to fight alongside Islamic State militants in Syria, then maintained his allegiance to the extremist group throughout his trial, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday.
Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, who served as a sniper and instructor for the Islamic militant group at the height of its power, sat grinning in the Brooklyn courtroom, flashing a thumbs-up and stroking his bushy beard as a judge read out the sentencing.
His own court-appointed attorney, Susan Kellman, declined to ask for a lighter sentence, noting her client was not interested in distancing himself from the Islamic State fighters in exchange for leniency.
“It’s rare that I start my remarks at sentencing by saying I agree with the government,” Kellman said. “This is who he is. This is what he believes, fervently.”
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/is-islamic-state-asainov-bcc0e0f8f9a7af9ace2e92416eb4e9b1
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Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York
American Citizen Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Plus Seventy Years for Providing Material Support to ISIS that Resulted in Death
The Defendant Was a Sniper and Weapons Instructor for the Foreign Terrorist Organization, and Fought in Multiple Battles in Syria
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Ruslan Maratovich Asainov, a U.S. citizen and former resident of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was sentenced by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis to life imprisonment plus seventy years for providing material support to ISIS, a foreign terrorist organization, that resulted in death. Asainov was also sentenced to concurrent terms of 20 years’ imprisonment on related convictions of conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS and obstruction of justice, and 10 years’ imprisonment for receipt of military-type training from ISIS. Today’s sentence was imposed by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis. Asainov was convicted by a federal jury after a three-week trial in February 2023.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations New York (HSI), and Edward A. Caban, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.
“Today’s sentence rightly holds Asainov responsible for the carnage he inflicted as a sworn member of ISIS and protects the world community from this avowed killer,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “The defendant committed his life to that terrorist organization and became a lethal sniper for ISIS in Syria, training many other ISIS members to shoot to kill as ISIS waged its brutal, barbaric campaign. To this day, the defendant maintains his unrepentant allegiance to that hateful cause. Like this defendant now knows, anyone who takes up arms in service of ISIS and causes death and destruction will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by this Office.”
“Mr. Asainov abandoned his family and country to fight for ISIS and train others to carry out its reign of terror, a cause to which he remains devoted to this day,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “Now, he is being held accountable for his crimes with a sentence of life in prison. The Department of Justice is committed to bringing to justice those who would aid such murderous terrorist organizations.”
“The world is undoubtedly safer with Ruslan Maratovich Asainov behind bars," stated HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge Arvelo. “Mr. Asainov pledged himself to ISIS, committed unconscionable acts on behalf of the terrorist group, and bragged about how he taught nearly 100 aspiring snipers how to kill. He further aligned himself to the Islamic State by covering his federal prison cell wall with an improvised ISIS flag. HSI New York is proud to stand with our partners to ensure his atrocities end here.”
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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/american-citizen-sentenced-life-imprisonment-plus-seventy-years-providing-material