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2 Men Plead Guilty in US Courts to Trying to Join IS


FILE - Hanad Mustofe Musse is seen in an undated handout photo provided by Sherburne County Jail, Minnesota.
FILE - Hanad Mustofe Musse is seen in an undated handout photo provided by Sherburne County Jail, Minnesota.

Two young men pleaded guilty in U.S. federal courts Wednesday to separate charges of attempting to fly overseas to join Islamic State.

Hanad Mustofe Musse, 19, entered his plea in Minneapolis, in the midwestern U.S. state of Minnesota.

He was arrested last year while attempting to board a plane in New York on the way to Athens and eventually Syria. Federal prosecutors say he and three co-conspirators talked about using fake passports and other fraudulent documents as part of their travel plans.

Also Wednesday, Samuel Rahamin Topaz, 21, pleaded guilty in New Jersey to charges of conspiring to provide material support to Islamic State and planning to head overseas to join the terrorists.

Topaz admitted that he and three others who are also in federal custody saved up money for the trip and watched Islamic State videos of executions.

Topaz faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in November.

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