New Jersey Man and Washington Man Charged with Conspiracy and Attempt to Provide Material Support to ISIS

NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man and a Washington man were charged with conspiracy and attempt to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (“ISIS”), Senior Counsel Philip Lamparello announced.

Tomas-Kaan Jimenez-Guzel, 19, of Montclair, New Jersey and Saed Ali Mirreh, 19, of Kent, Washington were each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy and one count of attempt to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.  Jimenez-Guzel previously, on November 5, 2025, had his initial appearance in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa, and was detained.  Mirreh also had his initial appearance in federal court the same day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle L. Peterson, and was detained.

According to statements made in court and documents filed in the case:

From July 24, 2025 to November 4, 2025, through communications on encrypted messaging applications, Jimenez-Guzel, Mirreh, and other co-conspirators agreed to travel to Turkey in November 2025. They also agreed with other co-conspirators to travel from Turkey to “sham,” which is an Arabic term for the historical region of greater Syria, to join ISIS as fighters, and to provide themselves and others as personnel to ISIS.

On October 27, 2025, Jimenez-Guzel purchased a plane ticket to depart from Newark Liberty International Airport to Istanbul, Turkey on November 17, 2025. On October 28, 2025, Mirreh purchased a ticket to depart from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Istanbul, Turkey November 16, 2025.

After other individuals in Dearborn, Michigan, with whom Jimenez-Guzel and Mirreh were communicating were arrested on October 31, 2025, and charged with offenses related to those individuals’ plot to carry out an armed attack on behalf of ISIS, Jimenez-Guzel, Mirreh, and their co-conspirators accelerated their travel plans.

On November 3, 2025, Jimenez-Guzel re-booked his flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Istanbul, Turkey to leave instead on November 5, 2025 (in the early morning hours, shortly after midnight on November 4, 2025). Then, on November 4, 2025, after communicating with Jimenez-Guzel and other co-conspirators, Mirreh booked an additional flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Istanbul, Turkey to leave on November 5, 2025. Jimenez-Guzel was arrested at Newark Liberty International Airport on November 4, 2025 after he arrived for his booked flight. Mirreh was arrested later that evening at his home in Washington State.

The counts of conspiracy and attempt to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization each have a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a term of life of supervised release.  

Senior Counsel Lamparello credited Special Agents and Joint Terrorism Task Force Officers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy in Newark, New Jersey and Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington in Seattle, Washington; and officers of the New York Police Department, Montclair Police Department, and Rowan University Police Department.  He also thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Camila A. Garces of the National Security Unit in Newark, and Trial Attorneys James Donnelly, Patrick Cashman, and John Cella of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division.

The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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Defense counsel for Jimenez-Guzel: Alyssa Cimino, Esq.

Defense counsel for Mirreh: Dawn Farina, Esq. and Casey M. Arbenz, Esq.