Defendant in Islamic State terror case to plead guilty Wednesday

MINNEAPOLIS Hanad Musse, one of several defendants charged with conspiring to leave the United States to fight alongside terrorists in Syria, is expected to plead guilty in federal court in Minneapolis, according to documents filed Tuesday.

Musse’s attorney, Andy Birrell, declined to comment.

Musse will appear before U.S. District Judge Michael Davis to enter the guilty plea. Musse, who remains jailed, will become the second defendant in the alleged conspiracy to plead guilty to conspiring to support terrorism. Abdullahi Yusuf pleaded guilty to similar charges in February. Yusuf, who is now cooperating with the government, awaits sentencing.

The men are part of a circle of about a dozen young Somali-American men from the Twin Cities who authorities say plotted to join the Islamic State group. Musse, like the others, initially pleaded not guilty after being arrested by FBI agents last April and was scheduled for trial in February 2016.

Musse was among the men who made multiple attempts to leave the country through JFK Airport in New York City and San Diego, according to transcripts of recordings made by a confidential informant who was once a co-conspirator in the case.

Musse, 19, was born in St. Louis Park. His fellow co-defendants Zacariah Abdurahman, brothers Mohmed and Adnan Farah, Abdirahman Daud, Guled Omar and Hamza Ahmed still await trial.

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