A 22-year-old Acampo man faces a potential 20 years in prison after admitted Tuesday he tried to travel to Syria in 2014 to help the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL).
Nicholas Michael Teausant pleaded guilty in Sacramento federal court on a charge of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
“This case, like others in communities across the United States and around the world, is an example of how a young person from any place and any background might make the terrible decision to try to become part of a terrorist organization,” said U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.
Teausant was arrested near the Canadian border in March 2014 and indicted in Sacramento for attempting to support a foreign terrorist group.
He was a community college student and member of the National Guard in Acampo, near Modesto, California, when he abandoned his life on March 15, 2014, to join ISIL in Syria, according to the government.
He came to the FBI’s attention after posting communications on social networking apps that declared a design to conduct violent jihad and be part of America’s downfall, according to the government.
This lead to a contact with an undercover FBI source who recorded conversations with Teausant, who said he did not know how to become part of the armed conflict.
U.S. District Judge John Mendez set March 8, 2016 for Teausant’s sentencing.
Case: U.S. v. Teausant
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