A Michigan man who once tried to travel overseas to join the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, was ultimately caught after federal investigators uncovered years of extremist activity, including attempts to support the terror group from inside the United States, prosecutors said Thursday, May 7.
Aws Mohammed Naser, 38, of Westland, Michigan, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after being convicted of attempting to provide material support to ISIS twice, despite being aware that it is a designated terrorist organization. Additionally, he was convicted of possessing a destructive device. Prosecutors said the investigation into Naser stretched back more than a decade and revealed continued efforts to support the terror group even after earlier run-ins with law enforcement.
According to a press release by the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs, court documents revealed that Naser went through a process of radicalization in his early 20s. He posted extreme Salafi-Jihadist ideological content on his YouTube channel.
NEWS ALERT from @FBIDetroit: Michigan Man Sentenced to 20 years in Prison After Having Been Convicted of Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS and Possessing a Destructive Device
A jury unanimously found that Aws Mohammed Naser twice attempted to provide material… pic.twitter.com/oZcfhmvMjM
— FBI (@FBI) May 7, 2026
In early 2012, he went to Iraq along with an aspiring Salafi Jihadist preacher named Russell Dennison, with whom he had developed a close connection. In August that year, Naser returned to Michigan and began preparing to join Dennison, who had traveled to Syria to join another terrorist organization, Al-Nusrah Front, a precursor to ISIS.
As his preparation to join ISIS, Naser “consumed large amounts of terrorist propaganda materials, researched weapons, and watched gruesome videos depicting acts of violence such as beheadings,” the press release said.
Naser and Dennison continued being in touch and discussed routes through Lebanon and Turkey to join the terror group. In November 2012, Naser attempted to fly from Detroit to Syria, but he was not allowed to board the flight after airport authorities found a rifle scope, a four-inch tactical knife, and a cane sword in his luggage.
In January 2013, Naser booked a flight from Chicago to Beirut, Lebanon. Just hours before the flight, he robbed a gas station. He arrived at the airport with $2,000 in cash, but, yet again, he was denied boarding and returned to Michigan. He ended up serving three years in prison after being charged and convicted of armed robbery. He was put on parole supervision after being released from prison in 2016.
Fun fact, Naser's buddy Russell Dennison was the subject of Trevor Aaronson's "American ISIS". They both tried to get to Syria, but Naser was on the no fly list. That's a shame because had the FBI allowed him to go to Syria he might have been killed just like his buddy. https://t.co/VH9lOjrzEo pic.twitter.com/M6nKUQAqif
— MyPetJawa (@mypetjawa) May 8, 2026
After his attempts to join ISIS were thwarted twice, Naser, who considered himself a “Son of the Islamic State,” and a “Soldier of the Caliphate,” diverted his attention to finding ways to support the terror group from inside the U.S. He secretively created social media accounts and joined invitation-only groups, private rooms, and chatrooms for ISIS supporters where he gained access to ISIS publications, media reports and other jihadi propaganda.
Prosecutors found that the convicted criminal solicited information about explosives from fellow ISIS supporters, trained under a bomb-maker, and experimented with manufacturing explosives and operating drones. Naser also downloaded a video containing the instructions about manufacturing an improvised explosive device (IED).
In October 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) discovered a bomb-making lab, several tools, drones, and drone parts when they searched his home and vehicle. Authorities also found a ready-to-assemble destructive device.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case.
“This self-professed ‘soldier of the Caliphate’ and ‘son of the Islamic State’ has now faced American justice. We welcomed this traitor into our Nation with open arms. And he repaid us by building a bomb and helping our great enemy,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. for the Eastern District of Michigan, one of the prosecutors in the case.
He was joined by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin, Assistant U.S Attorney Hank Moon for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
