Court Case

USA v. Muse, Muse Abdikadir, et al.

January 2019 (Updated September 22, 2021)
Lansing, MI
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)

[WDMI] Three residents of Lansing, Michigan, were charged with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Muse Abdikadir Muse (Muse Muse) and alleged co-conspirators Mohamud Abdikadir Muse (Mohamud Muse), and Mohamed Salat Haji (Haji) are naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in Kenya. According to the complaint, Muse Muse purchased airline tickets to travel from Grand Rapids, MI, to Mogadishu, in January 2019. The complaint further alleged that Haji and Mohamud Muse aided in the purchase of the ticket and drove Muse Muse to the Grand Rapids airport, each knowing the true purpose of the travel was for Muse Muse to join and fight for ISIS. All three defendants pledged allegiance to ISIS through videos they recorded themselves. Muse Muse and Haji allegedly discussed with each other their desire to join ISIS, to kill non-believers, and even to potentially use a car for a martyrdom operation to run down non-believers here in the United States if they could not travel overseas to fight for ISIS. In January 2020, Muse Muse pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiring to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization. Also in January 2020, Mohamud Abdikadir Muse pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. And in June 2021, Mohamed Haji pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS.

Case Updates

2021-09-22 | Mohamed Haji Sentenced To 130 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Provide Material Support To Isis

Mohamed Salat Haji was sentenced to serve 130 months in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham ("ISIS"), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Mohamud Muse was also ordered to serve 12 years of supervision by the court, following his release from prison. The government sought a sentence of 240 months in prison consistent with the sentence recommended by the United States Sentencing Guidelines. In January 2019, Haji was arrested at the airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after Haji had helped his cousin, Muse Muse, check in for a flight to the first of a series of destinations on his way to Mogadishu, Somalia, with the goal of joining ISIS. Their relative, Mohamud Muse, also was arrested for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. In June 2021, Haji pled guilty to the charge, admitting that he: (1) agreed with one or more individuals to provide material support or resources (which includes personnel) to ISIS, a foreign terrorist organization; (2) knew that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization or had engaged or engages in terrorist activity or terrorism; and (3) is a U.S. national and that part of the offense occurred in the United States. He further admitted that the individuals he conspired with were his relatives and co-defendants, Muse Muse and Mohamud Muse. In August 2021, Muse Muse was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison and Mohamud Muse was sentenced to serve 98 months in prison for their respective roles in the offense. Haji is the third and final defendant to be sentenced in the case.

2021-08-12 | Muse Muse, The First Of Three Lansing Men To Be Sentenced For Conspiring To Provide Material Support To Isis, Receives 78 Months In Prison

Muse Muse was sentenced to serve 78 months in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham ("ISIS"), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Following his release from prison, Muse Muse was ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release. On January 21, 2019, special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and members of its Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested Muse Muse at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after he checked in for a flight to the first of a series of destinations on his way to Mogadishu, Somalia, with the goal of joining ISIS. Shortly thereafter, his brother Mohamud Muse and cousin Mohamed Haji were arrested as co-conspirators.

2021-06-09 | Third and Final Defendant Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS

Mohamed Haji pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. In January 2020, his co-defendants Muse Muse and Mohamud Muse pleaded guilty to the same offense. According to court documents, between December 2018 and January 2019, co-defendant Muse Muse coordinated with an individual he believed to be a Somali ISIS fighter to wire funds to be used to purchase airline tickets for travel to Mogadishu, Somalia, where he believed he would meet an ISIS representative. All three defendants: picked up money to provide Muse Muse the funds to travel to join ISIS, pledged allegiance to ISIS in recorded videos, and submitted their videos to individuals they believed were associated with ISIS. Additionally, throughout the conspiracy, all three defendants participated in numerous discussions regarding traveling overseas to join ISIS and even adopted fighter aliases by which they would be known when fighting for ISIS. Muse, Mohamud Muse and Haji were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple charges, including conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. This federal offense required the government to prove that Haji: (1) agreed with one or more individuals to provide material support or resources (which includes personnel) to ISIS, a foreign terrorist organization; (2) knew that ISIS was a designated foreign terrorist organization or had engaged or engages in terrorist activity; and (3) is a U.S. national or some part of the offense occurred in the United States. Haji admitted each of those elements of the crime. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 22 and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.

2020-01-10 | Lansing Man Pleads Guilty to Supporting Islamic State, Faces Up to 20 years In Prison

A Lansing man has pleaded guilty to supporting the Islamic State group, according to court records. Muse Abdikadir Muse pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiring to providing material support to a designated terrorist organization during a Tuesday afternoon hearing in U.S. District Court, according to a plea agreement. He originally pleaded not guilty in January 2019. Muse, 21, faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a lifetime of supervision once released. He may also lose his citizenship.

Case Documents