MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man was sentenced in federal district court to more than eight years in prison Wednesday for supporting the efforts of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated terrorist organization rooted in the Middle East.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said 23-year-old Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, of Minneapolis, was handed eight-and-a-half years in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, after he pleaded guilty in September to attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS.

Court documents show that in 2024, Hassan began collecting and redistributing ISIS propaganda, while obtaining various manuals about sniper-training skills and how to make “highly explosive” materials and ammunition. Officials said Hassan also researched articles online related to gun ranges, weapons and “ISIS-inspired attacks and terroristic acts.”

Prosecutors found Hassan engaged with ISIS media wings and recruiters in Somalia for months before he decided to quit his job and liquidate his savings, cashing in on a one-way ticket from Minneapolis to Somalia in early December 2024. Hassan was actually turned away from that flight after airport officials discovered he lacked the proper travel documents, but just a few weeks later, he was granted the same one-way ticket with the proper documentation.

According to the district attorney’s office, Hassan made his first flight to Chicago, but was stopped and questioned by Customs and Border Control agents, missing his flight to Somalia and later admitting to his ties to the terrorist organization.

Hassan returned to Minnesota and continued to praise ISIS through his social media accounts until being arrested by the FBI in February 2025. A grand jury then indicted Hassan on one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to ISIS.

“The sentence handed down today takes a would-be terrorist off the streets and sends a clear message that the FBI and our partners will unremittingly pursue anyone seeking to join or support a foreign terrorist organization,” said FBI Minneapolis Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher D. Dotson.