Posted: Feb 26, 2015 11:59 PM ASTUpdated: Feb 27, 2015 5:53 PM AST
13 Investigates first broke the story. We now have new details explaining how FBI agents caught their man.
His name is Nihad Rosic. He's originally from Bosnia, and moved to the United States where he's worked as a truck driver. But federal agents say he lives a double life and that he's part of a group that's been directly supporting ISIS terrorists in the Middle East.
As bloody battles rage on in Syria, the FBI and federal prosecutors have been working behind the scenes here in the United States.
Three weeks ago in St. Louis, prosecutors announced the indictment of six Bosnian nationals for conspiring to help ISIS terrorists. But what prosecutors did not announce is that one of the suspects was arrested in central Indiana.
13 Investigates has learned federal agents have been tracking Nihad Rosic for years. The FBI tells Eyewitness News that the truck driver was making a routine delivery off of Ronald Reagan Parkway in Plainfield when they made their arrest. It happened about an hour before Air Force One and President Barak Obama landed nearby.
[More online: Read the indictment]
The timing appears to be a coincidence. What is not coincidence, according to the indictment, is the relationship between Rosic and a brutal terrorist group.
The indictment says Rosic and other defendants provided ISIS fighters with US military uniforms, combat boots, tactical gear, and firearms accessories such as range finders and rifle scopes. They also wired thousands of dollars in cash, all in an elaborate conspiracy to commit "murder and maiming" in Syria and Iraq.
Investigators obtained records from Western Union and Paypal, and prosecutors say they show the transfer of money from the suspects in the Midwest to known terrorists in the Middle East. Federal agents also monitored phone calls, emails and Facebook to infiltrate their communication.
According to the indictment, members of the conspiracy used coded language, referring to each other as "lions." They called Syria "the beach." And weapons were known as "actions."
Prosecutors say Rosic planned to fly to Syria to join ISIS on the battlefield.
[More online: Read the indictment]
More about the case:
Rosic, who has a registered address in Utica, New York, was taken to the Marion County Jail on February 6th and then released to U.S. Marshals on February 11. The U.S. Attorney's office in St. Louis is handling this case, and they tell us they believe Rosic was just passing though Indiana. But he has allegedly been a big support to ISIS terrorists.
Five others were arrested throughout the Midwest, with the bulk of the arrests in Saint Louis. All six are Bosnian nationals and were taken into custody by the FBI and charged with terrorist-related crimes.
In addition to Rosic, the suspects are Armin Harcevic, Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, and all of Saint Louis; Mediha Medy Salkicevic of Schiller Park, Illinois; and Jasminka Ramic of Rockford, Illinois.
Rosic and Ramiz Zijad Hodzic also face a more serious charge of conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country.
The federal indictment names two of the six as point people for funneling money, guns and military equipment to ISIS fighters in the Middle East.
[More online: Read the indictment]
The U.S. Attorney's office does not think that Rosic or the others were planning any sort of attack in the United States. But they say this alleged support network for terrorists here in the Midwest raised a lot of money, and shipped weapons and uniforms and other aid that has been used by ISIS fighters in Syria.
The document says that around July 20, 2014, Rosic attempted to board a Norwegian Airlines flight at J.F.K. International Airport intending to travel to Syria to join Abdullah Ramo Pazara and others who were fighting in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere.
The indictment says Rosic is also known as Yahya AbuAyesha Mudzahid. The group, according to the indictment, had a plan that if Rosic made it to Syria, they would "get a night vision optic with a built-in camera for $540 and that when Rosic killed a person, he could record it."
An FBI source told Eyewitness News that Rosic was arrested in Plainfield and was driving a truck. Another source told 13 Investigates that Rosic had ties to a group that was trying to get weapons to Syria.
Eyewitness News learned from our St. Louis affiliate that if these cases goes to trial, it would happen in Saint Louis.
Part of the evidence used against the six suspects comes from phone calls and Facebook posts over a two-year period. The messages were sent in code, the indictment says, using words like "Brothers, Lions, Bosnian Brothers, Mujahids, Kufars, Infidels, and Shaheed" to refer to one another and the group, and referred to Syria and Iraq as the "beach." Weapons were called "actions, dawa, dalwa, and IDIS".
Investigators said the suspects shipped combat boots and tactical gear, among other items, to Turkey using the U.S. Postal Service.
They are also accused of wiring money to support terrorists.
According to a release from the FBI, If convicted, the crimes of "conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists" carry penalties ranging up to 15 years imprisonment for each count and/or fines up to $250,000.
The crime of "conspiring to kill and maim persons in a foreign country" carries a penalty of up to life in prison.
During his time in Utica, New York, Rosic made headlines for criminal charges. The Utica Observer-Dispatch reports Rosic, then 24, faced charges for beating his girlfriend with a belt back in 2012.
Less than a year before that, the paper reports Rosic was arrested in November of 2011 for punching a woman in the face while she was holding a child.
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