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A 28-year old Indian-American has been sentenced to five years in prison for passport fraud and making false statements in an attempt to join the US military.
As per a report by India Today, the US Justice Department said that Shivam Patel, an Indian-American who was raised a Hindu and later converted to Islam, told an undercover FBI employee that he wanted to commit jihad. The US attorney’s office news release said that ‘Shivam Patel, a resident of Williamsburg, Virginia has been sentenced to five years in prison for passport fraud and making false statements in his application to join the US military.’
The report quotes The Virginian Pilot saying, “Patel was also ordered to pay USD 4,000 in fines in connection with two counts of making false statements during his military application process.”
Patel, who has a degree in Criminal Justice from the Virginia State University, had travelled to China in July 2016, to teach English. There, he was highly displeased with the way the country treated Muslims. Subsequently, he travelled to Jordan and was arrested for unspecified reasons.
Patel told a reliable, undercover FBI employee that he wanted to join a ‘Muslim army’ and commit jihad. He also said that he had gone to Jordan to find like-minded Muslims and was searching for something ‘bigger, better, and more purposeful’. A search of Patel’s computer revealed that he had researched how to join the Islamic State Group before leaving for China.
After returning to the US, he applied to join the Army and Air Force. However, in his application, he did not disclose his foreign trips. Also, when he was asked to submit his passport, he lied stating that he had accidentally thrown his old passport away and applied for a new one.
Patel was arrested in July 2017, and he pleaded guilty to the charges in February 2018. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison along with a fine of $4,000.
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