Somali-born Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud is accused of allegedly plotting a terrorist attack in the United States. Mohamud immigrated with his family to Columbus, Ohio at the age of 2. He remained in Ohio until venturing to Syria in April 2014 to join the Nusra Front, the chief al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. His older brother Abdifatah Aden had made the same journey to Syria in May 2013.

In February 2014, Mohamud offered to send Aden money and two months later he traveled to Syria with $1,000 in tow. While in Syria, Mohamud allegedly trained in the use of weapons and explosives before he was instructed to return to the United States to commit terrorism.

According to the indictment issued by a federal grand jury, Mohamud became a U.S. citizen on February 18, 2014. After completing training in Syria, a cleric dispatched him to recruit others and carry out an attack within the United States. Mohamud returned on June 4, 2014, (four days after his brother Aden died in combat in Syria) to attack a U.S. military base or prison. On February 21, 2015, U.S. authorities arrested Mohamud in Ohio on charges of providing material support for individuals engaged in terrorism. Mohamud pled guilty to the charges in August 2015.Matt Zapotosky, “Ohio man who trained with terrorists overseas and plotted to kill U.S. troops sentenced to 22 years,” Washington Post, January 22, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/ohio-man-who-trained-with-terrorists-overseas-and-plotted-to-kill-us-troops-sentenced-to-22-years/2018/01/22/2d18ff42-ff8f-11e7-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b11c12ac7407. In December 2017, he officially requested to be deported to Somalia rather than serve time in jail in the United States. Mohamud was sentenced to 22 years in prison on January 1, 2018. The local Homeland Security Investigations office said it also intended to pursue deportation.