Two ISIS supporters were sent to prison after getting caught in their ghost gun operation. The U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Indiana announced this decision on Thursday, Dec. 14.
The two suspects were identified as 25-year-old Moyad Dannon and his brother, Mahde Dannon. Prosecutors said that the Dannon brothers were both sentenced to over 35 years of imprisonment: Moyad for 16 years and Mahde for 20 years.
This was finalized after the ISIS supporters pleaded guilty to Attempting to Provide Material Support or Resources to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Indiana: ISIS Supporters Sent to Prison Over Ghost Gun Operation
Prosecutors said that the Dannon brothers devised a plan to deliver stolen firearms to a convicted felon, who was actually cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in June 2018.
"Between July 2018 and December 2018, the Dannon brothers sold a number of illegally obtained firearms to the cooperating individual," said the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of Indiana via its official press release.
However, ISIS supporters changed their plans and started focusing on assembling ghost guns, which are very hard to trace, even for law enforcement officials.
According to Fox News' latest report, the Dannon brothers were buying parts online and assembling them into numerous firearms, such as .223-caliber semiautomatic rifles, which they sold to the agent working with the FBI.
Investigators said that Moyad was accompanying the agent to the Southwest hoping to sell the ghost guns to a potential buyer. He learned that the possible client was allegedly shipping weapons to the Middle East, which is the region where the ISIS group operates.
In 2019, Moyad and his brother were both arrested after they continued their plan to try and sell the ghost firearms to the undercover FBI agents.
Indiana Ghost Gun Seller Expresses Intent to Help ISIS
Indiana prosecutors confirmed that Moyad accidentally shared his intent to help the ISIS terrorist group.
"Between February and May of 2019, Moyad Dannon had numerous and extensive conversations with an undercover agent who he believed was a member of ISIS then fighting in Syria," said the prosecutors.
They added that during those conversations, the Indiana suspect expressed his desire to travel to the ISIS-controlled areas of Syria. Moyad was allegedly planning to use his firearm expertise and other similar skills to support the ISIS terrorist group's fights against the Syrian government and the United States.
Atty. Zachary A. Myers of the Southern District of Indiana said that the case of the Dannon brothers shows that violent extremists inspired by events in other countries still pose a serious threat to the local communities in the U.S., as well as the nation's national security.
The attorney added that Indiana is also not immune from the influence of radicalization, which is fueled by terrorist propaganda content spreading online.
