New Jersey man admits to helping ISIS

A West New York man has admitted to he helped provide material to the Islamic State of Iraq by flying his brother oveseas to join the terrorist group.

Alaa Saadeh, 24, pleaded guilty to charges that he planned to travel overseas to join ISIS and that he discussed those plans with his brother, Topaz, and a fourth man, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Saadeh also admitted he watched Islamic State group-related videos with his brother and Topaz, some of which depicted the execution of people considered enemies of the group.

“Today in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey Alaa Saadeh admitted he planned to travel to Syria to join ISIL along with others,” FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel said. “Now, thanks to the efforts of Newark FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Saadeh will go to prison rather than take up arms overseas.”

Saadeh also admitted letting his brother buy a plane ticket with his credit card so he could fly to the Middle East to join the Islamic militant organization. A criminal complaint also alleged he told a friend to lie if questioned by the FBI. In a conversation secretly recorded by an informant, Saadeh spoke of his knowledge of his brother's plans and told the person what to do if the FBI began asking questions. “Just play stupid,” “pretend it never happened,” and “keep it honest up to a point" was the advice Saadeh offered in the call.

The Saadehs' father, Khaled Saadeh, lives in Jordan. He told The Associated Press in August that Alaa had told the family that Nader might travel to Syria via Turkey to join the extremists. Khaled Saadeh said Nader came to Jordan instead, where he was detained by authorities in May. Khaled Saadeh said at the time he believed Nader "had no serious intentions" of joining the extremists.

“The National Security Division’s highest priority is counterterrorism and we will continue to pursue justice against those who seek to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations," said Assistant Attorney General Carlin

Saadeh told U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court he will not cooperate with the government or testify against anyone else.