Aws Mohammed Naser, 38, of Westland, Mich., was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to aid ISIS and illegally possessing bomb-making materials, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.
Naser was convicted in June 2025 following a five-week trial on charges of attempting to support the Islamic State terror group and being a felon in possession of a destructive device.
Prosecutors said Naser became radicalized in his early 20s, consumed jihadist propaganda and sought to join ISIS fighters in Syria. Evidence presented at trial showed he frequently posted extremist Salafi-jihadist content online and communicated with Russell Dennison, an aspiring jihadist preacher who later joined an ISIS-linked group in Syria.
According to prosecutors, Naser twice attempted to travel overseas to join militants. In November 2012, he arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport carrying tactical gear, including a rifle scope, a cane sword and a tactical knife, but was denied boarding. Months later, he attempted to depart from Chicago O’Hare International Airport on a flight to Beirut, Lebanon, but again was prevented from boarding.
After serving a prison sentence for an armed robbery committed shortly before the second travel attempt, Naser turned his focus to supporting ISIS from within the United States, prosecutors said. Investigators said he joined private online forums used by ISIS supporters, studied explosives, experimented with drones and obtained instructions for building improvised explosive devices.
An FBI search of Naser’s home and vehicle in October 2017 uncovered what authorities described as a bomb-making laboratory, including precursor chemicals and components for a triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, explosive device.
“This self-professed ‘soldier of the Caliphate’ and ‘son of the Islamic State’ has now faced American justice,” said Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. “We welcomed this traitor into our nation with open arms. And he repaid us by building a bomb and helping our great enemy.”
