Syrian immigrant, 24, admits links to Islamic State and pleads guilty to lying to FBI

Reporting from San Diego —  A 24-year-old Syrian immigrant pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to the FBI about his links to the Islamic State terror group.

As part of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors in San Diego, Mohamad Saeed Kodaimati agreed to a prison sentence of eight years.

Saeed admitted that he went to Turkey from San Diego in late 2012 and then to Syria, where he met Islamic State and Al Nusra fighters. He was questioned by U.S. authorities in Ankara, Turkey, and then when he returned to San Diego in March.

NEWSLETTER: Get the day’s top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

Saeed lied to agents from the FBI, Customs and Border Protection and the State Department when he said he had not been involved in fighting in Syria, did not know any Islamic State fighters and had never been involved in a sharia court, according to court documents.

In his plea bargain, filed in federal court in San Diego, Saeed admitted that he knew a member of the Islamic State and that while in Syria, he was part of a four-month battle against the Syrian regime, including shooting at Syrian government soldiers.

In conversations with associates and postings on Facebook, Saeed said he was affiliated with a sharia court that dispenses Islamic justice and that he believes in the cause of Islamic State, according to court documents. Pictures show him holding weapons.

“I am currently the media person for the Shari’ah Authority,” Saeed is said to have told an associate.

Saeed was arrested in the Rancho Bernardo neighborhood without incident in April. He was charged with making false statements involving international terrorism.

Born in Syria, Saeed came to the U.S. in 2001 and became a U.S. citizen in 2008. He has lived in Charlotte, N.C., and San Diego, according to court documents.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

“Lying to federal agents, particularly in a terrorism probe, is a crime that has the potential to influence an investigation or even jeopardize national security,” U.S. Atty. Laura Duffy said.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 11.

Twitter: @LATsandiego

ALSO:

China is eliminating its one-child policy. Here’s why.

How other teachers might have handled the texting South Carolina teen

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom: A reality check darkens a reality show romance