Air Force Vet Accused of Trying to Join ISIS
Federal prosecutors will challenge a U.S. Air Force veteran in court Wednesday whom they believe plotted to travel to Syria to join ISIS.
An attorney for Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh of Neptune, New Jersey, said he will plead not guilty to terrorism charges in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on Wednesday.
Authorities indicted him on charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstructing justice.
Prosecutors said Pugh was stopped in January at a Turkish airport carrying a laptop with information on Turkey-Syria border crossing points and 180 jihadist propaganda videos.
There was also a letter with the quote, "I will use the talents and skills given to me by Allah to establish and defend the Islamic States. There is only two possible outcomes for me. Victory or martyr."
Investigators believe Pugh wrote the letter to his wife.
The 47-year-old veteran served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990. Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch's office said he was trained in installing and maintaining aircraft engines and navigation and weapon systems.
After leaving the Air Force, he worked as an avionics specialist and airplane mechanic for a number of companies in the Middle East and the United States.
In 2001, the FBI received a tip from one of his co-workers who said Pugh expressed sympathy for Osama bin Laden. And in 2002, an associate of Pugh told the FBI that Pugh was interested in traveling to Chechnya to wage war.
The Department of Justice has charged roughly 20 people in the last year with planning to travel to the Middle East to fight alongside jihadists in groups such as ISIS.
