U.S. Air Force Veteran Sentenced to 35 Years for Attempting to Join ISIS
An Air Force veteran is the first U.S. citizen to be convicted of terrorism for trying to join the Islamic State (ISIS). A Brooklyn federal judge sentenced Tairod Pugh of Neptune, New Jersey to 35 years in prison after he was busted at an airport in Turkey trying to slip to Syria on January 2015.
Retrieved from Pugh's possession that time was a laptop containing 180 jihadist propaganda videos, a decapitation footage and information on the Turkey–Syria border crossing points. He also sent a letter to his wife stating that what awaited him was either victory or martyrdom.
Pugh served in the U.S. Air Force from 1986 to 1990 where he was trained in engine installing and maintenance as well as navigation and weapons systems. His first assignment was at Woodbridge Airbase in England in July 1987 and then to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona in July 1989.
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After his duty, Pugh worked as an avionics specialist and mechanic for companies in the Middle East and U.S. In 2001, he was reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by a co-worker at American Airlines as being sympathetic to Osama bin Laden. The next year, the FBI was tipped again regarding his desire to be part of the Chechen conflict.
During Wednesday's trial, the 48-year-old former airman first class maintained that he served honorably and it was "this country that owes me a debt of gratitude." He denied he was trying to join ISIS but admitted he wanted to wage war with the Syrian government.
Defense lawyer Susan Kellman depicted Pugh as mentally ill and a "very confused individual." She sought for a reduced sentence of 15 years on the grounds that her client never actually made contact with ISIS. Judge Nicholas Garaufis denied this, saying the defendant betrayed his country.
