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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man will spend a decade in a federal prison after he admitted to making a bomb-making tutorial to try and help the Islamic State, or ISIS.
Murat Suljovic, 24, of Salt Lake City, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 20 years of supervised release once he leaves prison, according to a news release from the Utah U.S. Attorney's Office.
Suljovic pleaded guilty in November 2020 to one count of providing material support or resources to terrorists. Suljovic was charged and arrested back in August 2019, according to online court records.
Suljovic was living in Utah in January 2019 when he began talking with someone he believed to be a follower of ISIS, according to a plea agreement signed by Suljovic. Court documents indicate he believed the person was interested in carrying out an attack in the name of the terrorist group, with the help of someone else. Neither of the other two people are identified in the plea agreement filing.
In the online talks, Suljovic represented himself to be an ISIS leader, and both of the unnamed people believed he was an ISIS leader, according to the plea agreement.
Suljovic admitted to providing a bomb-making tutorial video, advice on how to carry out an attack and advice on where to carry out an attack, the plea agreement says. Supplying the bomb-making tutorial was the basis for the felony charge he was sentenced on earlier this week.
"The fact that Suljovic carried out these actions while living in Salt Lake City shows the global reach of terrorist networks and should remind us to stay vigilant against the ongoing fight against terrorist organizations," Utah U.S. Attorney Andrea Martinez said in a news release.
Federal officials have said little about the case following Suljovic's arrest, as a court filing from January 2020 indicated federal officials seized over 27 gigabytes of information from Suljovic's computer. Suljovic's plea agreement included his approval for the government to seize his computers, hard drives, cellphones and even his Twitter account.
A court filing last June sought to prevent the unauthorized release of information in the case, as some of the details of the case were classified.
Suljovic was issued his sentence during a hearing Thursday, according to court records. He will be transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to serve his sentence.
