Cr.  No.(T. 18, U.S.C., 233913(a)(1) and 2)DefendantEASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, SS:

CHRISTOPHER I. BUSCAGLIA, being duly sworn, deposes and says that heis a Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation assigned to the BI ? 5 JointTerrorism Task Force duly appointed according to law and acting as such. 

PROVISION OF MATERIAL SUPPORTTO A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

Upon information and belief, in or about and between June 2014 and thepresent, both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New Yorkand elsewhere, the defendant?  did knowingly and intentionallyprovide material support and resources, as de?ned in 13 U.S.C. 2339A(b), includingpersonnel, including himself, to a foreign terrorist organization, to wit: the Islamic

State of Iraq and the Levant which has been designated by the Secretary of State as a

The source of your deponent?s information and the grounds for his belief are asfollows:]

1.  I have been a Special Agent with the FBI since 2010, andl am assignedto the New York JTTF.  I am responsible for conducting and assisting in investigations intothe activities of individuals and criminal groups responsible for committing acts of terrorism,including, among others, those who associate with or are members of the foreign terroristOrganization As a Special Agent, 1 have participated in numerous investigations duringthe course of which I have conducted physical surveillance, executed court-authorizedsearches, and used other investigative techniques to secure relevant infOrmation regardingvarious crimes. 

2.  have personally participated in the investigation of the offensediscussed below.  I am familiar with the facts and circumstances of this investigation from: my personal participation in this investigation; interviews with witnesses; my review ofrecords and reports generated by other law enforcement agents in the United States and

elsewhere; my review of communications recovered during the iHVestigation; and

Because the purpose of this complaint is to provide only probable cause to arrest, Ihave not described all the relevant facts and circumstances of which I am aware. 

Case Document 1-1 Filed 11/03/14 Page 3 of 7 PageID 149

information provided to me by other agents and law enforcement of?cials. 

3.  Excerpts of documents, e-mails and other conversations andcorrespondence, when referred to herein, are drawn from summaries.  Where statements ofothers are set forth, except as otherwise noted, they are set forth in sum and substance and inpart. 

A. Background on ISIL

4.  United States law enforcement agents, including members of the NewYork JTTF, have been investigating individuals located in the United States and abroad whomay have traveled to Syria to ? ght violent jihad and provide material support to designatedforeign terrorist organizations, including ISIL, that are operating in that country. 

5.  On October 15, 2004, the United States Secretary of State designatedal-Qa?ida in Iraq, then known as Iarn?at a] Tawhid wa?aI-Jihad, as a Foreign TerroristOrganization under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as aSpecially Designated Global Terrorist Entity under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224.On May 15, 2014, the Secretary of State amended the designation of al-Qa?ida in Iraq as aFTO under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a SpeciallyDesignated Global Terrorist Entity under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224 to add thealias ISIL as its primary name.  The Secretary also added the following aliases to the ISILlisting: the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham the Islamic State of Iraq and Syriaad?Dawla al-Islarniyya al-?Iraq wa?sh?Sham, Daesh, Dawla a1 Islamiya, and

Al~Furqan Establishment for Media Production.  Although the group has never called itself

Case Document 1-1 Filed 11/03/14 Page 4 of 7 PageID 150

? Al?Qaeda in Iraq,?  this name has frequently been used to describe it through its history.  Inan audio recording publicly released on June 29, 2014, ISIL announced a formal change of

its name to Islamic State

6.  The defendant?  is a United States citizen. 

is approximately 25 years old, and was raised in Brooklyn, New York, where heresided until June 2014.  On or about June 5, 2014, based on information indicating thatmay have been considering traveling to Syria to support ISIL, investigators from theJTTF visited him at his residence in Brooklyn.  During a brief consensual interview,stated to the agents, in sum and substance and in part, that he was interested inevents in Syria and generally supported ? rebel groups?  who were ? ghting against the Syriangovernment.  The defendant also claimed that he lacked the resources to travel to Syria, andthat he did not know what he would do if he got there. 

C. Travel to Syria

7.  According to airline records thatI have personally reviewed, on or about

June 12, 2014, the defendant?  boarded a ? ight fromJohn F. Kennedy International Airport by way of Istanbul,

Turkey.  Investigators determined that_ did not board his connecting ? ight in

Turkey, and apparently made his way from Istanbul to Syria after his arrival in Turkey. 

Case Document 1-1 Filed 11/03/14 Page 5 of 7 PageID 151

D. E-Mail to FBI

8.  On or about October 31, 2014, an individual subsequently identi?ed asthe defendant sent an e-mail to the FBI in which he stated, in sum

and substance and in part, that he was overseas, and wanted to come home.  More speci?cally,the defendant stated, in pertinent part:

I?m an American who's trying to get back home from Syriacan verify who I am with randominformation you ask me. . . .  I?ve coordinated a way to get to theborder . . .  in Turkey and near . . .  Syria . . .  by use of civiliansmugglers.  My problem is that I need a pickup from trustedsources because I?m without passport.  It was taken, and theywon?t give it back. . . .  If someone can pick me up safely fromacross the border before [Kurdish forces] get to me, then I?ll be100% in the right hands. . . .  Please help.  I had a. week [sic]thought out letter, but it?s too risky to have it saved on my device. I?ll try to write to you soon in full explanation.  But right nowmy window is closing. 

Ijust wt to get back

home.  All I want is this extraction, complete exonerationthereafter, and have everything back to normal with me and myfamily. . . .  Please help me get homewith this evil.  Butplease first coordinate our extraction as soon as possible. 

The defendant also provided the name of a ITTF Task Force Of?cer who had interviewed himand his own social security number to authenticate that the message was indeed from him.  Inaddition, the defendant requested that the US.  government deliver to his family ? a letter ofpromise of complete excneration for them to submit to a lawyer by today.?  He concluded,

? I?m doing my best to come back and give back to my government what trust I violated.? 

Case Document 1-1 Filed 11/03/14 Page 6 of 7 PageID 152

6E. _Admissions Regarding Support to ISIL9.  Before the FBI could verify his identity and formulate a response to the

defendant?s email, on or about November 3, 2014, the defendant

made his way to a US.  consulate of?ce in Turkey, near the border with Syria, and asked tospeak to officials from the U.S. government.  assigned to the consulate agreed to meet with the defendant.  I have beeninformed that, during the meeting, the defendant told-, in sum and substance and inpart, that he had joined and worked for ISIL.  More speci?cally, the defendant stated that,after arriving in Syria in or about the summer of 2014 and making contact with ISIL, he hadserved as a guard at an ISIL headquarters building, subsequently served in an administrationand inventory position, and was then assigned to teach other ISIL members how to usecomputer software.  The defendant further stated that he carried a ? rearm in connection withhis service to ISIL. 

10.  During the meeting the defendant also claimed that he was never involved in any ? ghting.  In addition, the defendantreviewed a map of the region and detailed how he was smuggled into Syria, andwhere he was stationed.  The defendant also stated that he fully expected to go to jail in theU.S., but hoped that his cooperation would prevent him from spending the rest of his life inan. -  At the defendant?s request, the interview was audio recorded.  In addition, the

defendant signed a written statement summarizing his purposes in meeting

Case Document 1-1 Filed 11/03/14 Page 7 of 7 PageID 153

11.  WHEREFORE, your deponent respectfully requests that an arrest

warrant be issued for the defendant?so that he may be dealt with

according to law. REE QUEST FOR SEALING

It is further requested that this af?davit, arrest warrant, and other paperssubmitted in support of this application be sealed until further order of the Court so as toprevent notifying the defendant and his associates of the pending warrant, which might resultin the destruction of evidence and the ? ight of coconSpirators, with the exception that thecomplaint and arrest warrant shall be unsealed for the limited purpose of disclosing theexistence of or disseminating the complaint and!  or arrest warrant to relevant United States,foreign, or intergovernmental authorities, at the discretion of the United States and inconnection with efforts to prosecute the defendant or to secure the defendant?s arrest,

extradition or expulsion, or as otherwise required for purposes of national security.