A federal grand jury in Charleston has indicted Ala Aldeen Alshaikh, a 31-year-old resident of Goose Creek, on four counts related to lying about his connections to ISIS and obstructing a federal investigation. The indictment was announced after Alshaikh was arrested by federal agents.
According to the indictment, Alshaikh, who is originally from Sudan, applied for U.S. citizenship in September 2021. During an interview with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he denied any association with terrorist organizations. However, prosecutors allege that in August 2021, he pledged allegiance to ISIS and claimed membership in the group. The indictment further states that Alshaikh repeated his denial on a written immigration form prior to his naturalization ceremony one year later.
Investigators say that after his immigration interview on September 10, 2021, Alshaikh made online statements indicating his association with ISIS regarding a possible attack on a United States Embassy. The indictment also alleges that Alshaikh has aviation industry experience and lied to an FBI agent in January 2025 by denying he had offered this expertise to anyone. In reality, according to the charges, he had offered to share his aviation knowledge with the militant group known as the Al-Bara Ibn Malik Brigade.
The document further alleges that after learning of the federal investigation against him, Alshaikh destroyed evidence related to these online conversations.
Alshaikh faces maximum penalties ranging from five to twenty years in prison if convicted of the various charges. He was arraigned and will have a detention hearing scheduled for September 19 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Gordon Baker.
The FBI Columbia Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris Lietzow and Everett McMillian are prosecuting it with support from Trial Attorney Kevin C. Nunnally of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section.
"All charges in the indictment are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."
