Queens Man Sentenced to Nine Years’ Imprisonment for Attempting to Provide Material Support to ISIS

BROOKLYN, NY - Awais Chudhary was sentenced today by United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon to nine years' imprisonment for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, in connection with his efforts to attack civilians with a knife in Queens, New York.

United States Attorney General Pamela Bondi; Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; John Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's National Security Division; Christopher Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.

"Awais Chudhary pledged allegiance to a brutal terrorist organization and set out to kill American citizens," stated Attorney General Bondi. "Our prosecutors have ensured that he will spend years behind bars for his crimes, and the Department of Justice will continue to protect the American people from all threats foreign and domestic."

"After consuming violent ISIS propaganda for more than a year, the defendant took real world steps to carry out a lethal terrorist attack in Queens, including scouting the location of his attack and analyzing when it would be the most crowded so he could inflict maximum slaughter," stated United States Attorney Nocella. "Thanks to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Chudhary was stopped before anyone was harmed."

"Today, Awais Chudhary received a well-deserved punishment for his deliberate plans - motivated by ISIS's barbaric propaganda - to conduct a mass casualty terrorist attack in Queens," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia. "The FBI New York's Joint Terrorism Task Force remains vigilant and determined to defend our country from the evils of terrorism."

"Awais Chudhary pledged allegiance to a foreign terrorist organization, actively helped to recruit individuals to join ISIS, and planned to commit a mass knife attack in Queens," stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch. "Chudhary's plan to cause terror was stopped because of the women and men in law enforcement - and today, our justice system is holding him accountable. I would like to thank our NYPD investigators as well as our partners at the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for their work hard work and determination."

According to court filings, in August 2019, after watching violent terrorist propaganda videos, Chudhary pledged his allegiance to ISIS's then-leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and began planning for a knife or bomb attack on behalf of the group. Chudhary identified targets, including the pedestrian bridges over the Grand Central Parkway and the Flushing Bay Promenade, where he intended to carry out the attacks. Chudhary conducted several reconnaissance trips to these locations and made video recordings of the areas he intended to attack.

Chudhary sought guidance from people whom he believed to be ISIS supporters, including about what type of knife to use and how to prevent detection from law enforcement by not leaving "traces of finger prints [or] DNA." Chudhary also sent a screenshot of an ISIS propaganda magazine that included a diagram of the human body depicting where to stab victims with a knife.

In preparing for his attack, Chudhary ordered items online that he intended to use, including a tactical knife, a mask, gloves, and a cellphone chest and head-strap to help him to record the attack, which he hoped would serve as inspiration to other ISIS supporters. Chudhary was arrested as he attempted to retrieve the items he ordered from an online retailer's locker in Queens.

Before planning his specific violent attack, Chudhary separately contributed to ISIS's violent aims to help recruit English-speaking internet users to the group's hateful cause. Working with another ISIS member who was separately convicted of material support charges, Chudhary assisted ISIS in its propaganda efforts by helping to translate some of the group's propaganda materials into English. See United States v. Carpenter, E.D.N.Y., Docket No. 21-CR-38.

The government's case is being handled by the Office's National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Ellen H. Sise, Lindsey R. Oken, and Andrew D. Reich are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Kevin Nunnally of the Department of Justice's Counterterrorism Section and Paralegal Specialist Rebecca Roth.

The Defendant:

AWAIS CHUDHARY
Age: 25
Queens, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 20-CR-135 (CBA)