Connecticut Man Sentenced to Over Seven Years in Prison for Attempting to Support ISIS

Ahmad Khalil Elshazly, a 29-year-old resident of West Haven, Connecticut, was sentenced on Thursday by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden to 92 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Elshazly, a U.S. citizen, began expressing a desire in approximately September 2018 to travel to Syria to fight for ISIS. Prosecutors stated that he pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leaders in both online and in-person conversations. Elshazly also created and managed a pro-ISIS Discord server where he posted hundreds of extremist propaganda memes and videos.

On Dec. 14, 2019, Elshazly paid $500 to an individual he believed to be an ISIS facilitator to help smuggle him out of the United States to Turkey, with the ultimate goal of reaching Syria. He was arrested the following day in Stonington, Connecticut, where he had arrived expecting to board a boat to begin his journey.

Elshazly has remained in custody since his December 2019 arrest and pleaded guilty on Nov. 30, 2022, to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Court records note that while detained, he accrued multiple disciplinary infractions. Officials stated that during an August 2025 search of his cell, officers discovered a handwritten plan for an uprising at the facility, which included unit diagrams, breach instructions, and tactics to counter the emergency response team.

The investigation was led by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force with support from numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies across Connecticut and New York. The case was prosecuted by the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.

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