Jibreel Pratt, 26, of Detroit, Mich., pleaded guilty to concealing cryptocurrency donations he intended to give to the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, 14 months after he was arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to the foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.
“Today’s guilty plea by Jibreel Pratt underscores the serious threat posed by individuals who attempt to support foreign terrorist organizations known for violence and human rights abuses,” said Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office.
“The FBI remains unwavering in its commitment to protecting the American people from those who seek to carry out or orchestrate acts of terrorism,” he continued.
In February 2023, Pratt started conversing with whom he believed to be a member of ISIS, but was actually an informant, the department stated. Pratt communicated “his desire to travel overseas to join ISIS and recorded a video pledging allegiance to ISIS’s leader,” and provided information and documents aimed at helping ISIS organize terror operations and improve its defense systems, according to the Justice Department.
Pratt sent Bitcoin to the informant in both March and May of 2023. The funds were intended to help pay for the travel of individuals wishing to join ISIS and help a separate individual commit an act of terror in support. The department stated Pratt attempted to conceal these transfers using a VPN and other encryption keys.
“Jibreel Pratt has many talents. And he swore a binding oath to use them to help ISIS—a genocidal anti-American terrorist organization,” said U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. “Pratt meticulously plotted to support ISIS and covertly sent them money to further their evil works.”
“We will find the terrorists operating in our shadows and bring them to justice,” he said.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2025. A conviction for concealing the financing of terrorism carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both, according to the Justice Department. However, both parties agreed to a nine-year sentence.
