NY man denies plotting to aid Islamic State group

By Washington Examiner
Published September 18, 2014 4:36pm ET
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NY man denies plotting to aid Islamic State group
Mufid Elfgeeh of Rochester, N.Y., walks to the federal court house in Rochester,N.Y. Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 for a later appearance. Mufid Elfgeeh, accused of plotting to kill members of the U.S. military and others, faces new charges that he tried to aid the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. Elfgeeh, 30, of Rochester, was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on three counts of attempting to provide material support and resources to the group that has been designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization, federal prosecutors said. (AP Photo/Democrat & Chronicle, Tina Macintyre-Yee | Tina Macintyre-Yee

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York man accused of plotting to kill members of the U.S. military and others has denied new federal charges that he tried to aid the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Mufid Elfgeeh pleaded not guilty Thursday to three counts of attempting to provide material support and resources to the group designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S.

According to an indictment Tuesday, the 30-year-old Rochester store owner tried to arrange for three individuals to travel to Syria to join the extremist group in 2013 and early 2014. Prosecutors said two of those people were cooperating with the FBI.

Elfgeeh was arrested earlier this year after federal authorities said he bought two handguns and two silencers as part of a plan to kill members of the U.S. armed forces returning from war and Shiites in the Rochester area.

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