D.C. Metro Cop Sentenced for Islamic State Support

Nicholas Young, the disgraced D.C. Metro Transit Police Department officer convicted of providing support for the Islamic State (ISIS) in December, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday.

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia handed down the sentence on federal charges of attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice.

Young was fired in 2016 after coming under surveillance in 2010 for associations with other terrorism suspects. In 2011, he traveled to Libya and allegedly pursued links with the Jihadists fighting dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Court documents allege Young traveled with “body armor, a kevlar helmet and several other military-style items” and told the FBI he had been with rebels in Libya.

Eventually, Young was arrested in July 2016 when FBI informants, posing as U.S. military reservists of Middle Eastern descent who supported ISIS, got him to send them gift card codes for use to bolster the brutal terror group’s jihad. At trial, prosecutors revealed that, in addition to Islamist ties, the Muslim-convert Young also sought out Nazi materials and links online.

The obstruction charges stem from him advising the informant on how to avoid detection as he went to the Middle East to join ISIS. It was after an informant was supposedly with ISIS overseas that he requested Young send money through the gift cards.

Young was convicted in a jury trial in Alexandria, Virginia, in December. At the time, prosecutor Dana J. Boent said, “Nicholas Young swore an oath to protect and defend, and instead violated the public’s trust by attempting to support ISIS.”

According to the Justice Department (DOJ) press release, The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia teamed up with prosecutors from Main DOJ’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section to pursue the case against Young.

Young faced up to 60 years on the terrorism and obstruction charges. His 15-year sentence means we will serve at least 12 and a half years in federal prison. He is reportedly the first American law enforcement officer convicted for trying to assist ISIS, having joined the Metro Transit Police in 2003.