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AHMAD KHALIL ELSHAZLY, 29, of West Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 92 months of imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham(ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to court documents and statements made in court, beginning in approximately September 2018, Elshazly, a U.S. citizen, expressed a desire to travel to Syria to fight on behalf of ISIS. In numerous conversations online and in person, he swore (“bay’at”) allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In October 2019, just after al-Baghdadi’s death, Elshazly sent a message pledging allegiance to the new leader of ISIS, saying “I pledge my allegiance...to the Khilafah (the successor of the leadership) of the Muslims Abu Ibrahim Al Husseini Al Hashami Al Qurashi…” Elshazly also created and administered a pro-ISIS Discord server that he used to post hundreds of ISIS and other extremist propaganda memes and videos.
On December 14, 2019, Elshazly paid $500 to a person he believed was an ISIS facilitator who would be able to smuggle him out of the U.S. to Turkey. He believed this would enable him to connect with an ISIS member who, in turn, would assist him with traveling to ISIS within Syria. The next day, Elshazly was arrested after he arrived in Stonington, Connecticut, where he expected to board a boat to begin his trip.
“There is no higher priority than the security of our nation and its citizens,” said David X. Sullivan, U.S. Attorney of the District of Connecticut. “My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to tenaciously work to investigate, apprehend, and bring to justice anyone who threatens us. I greatly appreciate the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and all the participating agencies for their tireless dedication to protect public safety and to bring this case to a successful conclusion. We can accomplish great things when we work together.”
“Twenty-five years after the attacks of 9-11, the FBI New Haven Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) remains steadfast in its resolve to prevent, detect, and deter acts of terrorism as one of our highest priorities,” said FBI New Haven Division Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien. “The JTTF is committed to rigorously investigating all those who pledge allegiance to foreign terrorist organizations and threaten our national security both in the homeland and around the world. The JTTF is the gold standard of law enforcement partnership, and we are grateful for the support of all our partners who enabled this highly successful outcome and are embedded with us every day to ensure the safety of our communities and the nation.”
Elshazly has been detained since his arrest. On November 30, 2022, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. While detained, Elshazly has had numerous disciplinary infractions. In August 2025, officers searched his cell and found a handwritten plan for a coordinated uprising at the detention facility, complete with diagrams of the housing unit, instructions for breaching secured areas, and tactics for confronting the Correctional Emergency Response Team.
This matter was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) with the assistance of the Stonington Police Department, the New Haven Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police. The FBI’s JTTF includes participants from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), IRS Criminal Investigation, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, Norwich Police Department, Hartford Police Department, Stamford Police Department, Norwalk Police Department, Town of Groton Police Department, UConn Police Department, Yale Police Department, Stonington Police Department, New Haven Police Department, and New York Police Department.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel and Trial Attorney John Cella from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
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