Investigators believe Nicholas Young, 36, was transferring “stored value” cards to ISIS overseas.
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The 36-year-old who has been working with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority since 2003, according to an affidavit filed in the Virginia district court, had been on the radar of USA federal law enforcement since 2010.
It’s the first arrest of a US law enforcement officer on charges of offering support to ISIS. Law enforcement also interviewed Young’s family and co-workers.
He is also reported to be an “acquaintance” of Amine El Khalifi, who in 2012 pleaded guilty to plotting to detonate a suicide bomb at the US Capitol building.
Young traveled twice to Libya and was with rebels attempting to overthrow the Muammar Qaddafi regime.
He traveled with body armor, a kevlar helmet, and several other military-style items, according to the affidavit.
An undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent posed as a reservist who “became eager to leave the USA military as a result of having had to fight against Muslims during his deployment to Iraq”, it added.
In Fall 2014, CHS led Young to believe that he had successfully left the United States and had joined ISIL.
“U$3 nfortunately I have enough flags on my name that I can’t even buy a plane ticket without little alerts ending up in someone’s hands, so I imagine banking transactions are automatically monitored and will flag depending on what is going on”, Young said.
Young sent 22 gift card codes to an undercover agent he thought was a disgruntled military reservist joining the Islamic State, according to the criminal complaint.
He said if anyone betrayed him he would put their head in a cinder block at the bottom a lake, and he proposed burning the cars of potential Federal Bureau of Investigation agents watching him, officials said.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
After his arrest, Young’s employment with DC Metro was terminated, Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said, according to NBC News. Obviously, the allegations in this case are profoundly disturbing. “They’re disturbing to me, and they’re disturbing to everyone who wears the uniform”.
Police were investigating Young for six years, beginning in September 2010.
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