A Virginia man was sentenced Thursday to 364 months in prison for providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization. Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 35, was found to have collected and sent more than $185,000 to benefit ISIS members and operations in Syria.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, from at least October 2019 through October 2022, Chhipa engaged in a scheme to raise funds online through various social media accounts. He received electronic transfers and traveled significant distances to collect cash by hand.
Chhipa would then convert the collected money into cryptocurrency and transmit it to Turkey, from where it was smuggled to ISIS members in Syria. These funds were used for various purposes, including financing the escape of female ISIS members from prison camps and supporting ISIS fighters.
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“This defendant directly financed ISIS in its efforts to commit vile terrorist atrocities against innocent citizens in America and abroad,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This severe sentence illustrates that if you fund terrorism, we will prosecute you and put you behind bars for decades.”
“With this sentencing, this defendant will pay the price for helping finance ISIS, a brutal terrorist organization. This is more proof that the FBI will investigate and work with our DOJ partners to hold accountable anyone who assists ISIS or other terrorist groups,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Whether you are a fighter or send money, these activities are illegal and against the national security interests of the United States.”
U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia emphasized the gravity of Chhipa’s actions. “Those who fund and facilitate terror bear the same responsibility as those who carry out attacks,” said Siebert. “Mohammed Chhipa knowingly and persistently collected and provided a considerable amount of money to fund the violence of an organization bent on forcing their extremist ideology on others. That he did so from a nation that holds individual freedom sacrosanct is unconscionable.”
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Evidence presented also highlighted Chhipa’s primary co-conspirator, an ISIS member residing in Syria who was involved in fundraising for prison escapes, terrorist attacks, and supporting ISIS fighters.
Throughout the conspiracy, Chhipa was found to have sent over $185,000 in cryptocurrency.
In December 2024, a federal jury convicted Chhipa of one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization and four counts of providing and attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony T. Aminoff and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda St. Cyr for the Eastern District of Virginia, along with Trial Attorney Andrew John Dixon and former Trial Attorney Andrea Broach of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, prosecuted it.
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