For trying to become terrorist, Commack man gets 16 years

A Commack man who confessed to attempting to travel to Syria to wage "violent jihad" and join an al-Qaida affiliate or ISIS was sentenced in federal court Friday to more than 16 years in prison.

Elvis Redzepagic, 30, had pleaded guilty in April to attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

During his sentencing in District Court in Central Islip, federal prosecutors described Redzepagic as an unstable radical, while defense attorneys characterized him as a misguided young man influenced by drugs and alcohol who never came close to becoming a terrorist.

District Court Judge Denis Hurley said he considered Redzepagic's minimal criminal history, and that he never came close to entering a war zone, but said it is was critical to send a message to deter would-be jihadists.

"The nature of his offenses was very troubling," Hurley said as he sentenced Redzepagic to 200 months in prison and five years supervised release.

Redzepagic had faced 20 years to life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. Redzepagic's plea agreement stipulated that if he was sentenced to 14 years or less in prison, he would not file an appeal or challenge his conviction.

Prosecutors said Redzepagic traveled to Turkey in July 2015 and to Jordan in 2016 in unsuccessful attempts to enter Syria to join either ISIS — also known as the Islamic State — or an al-Qaida affiliate called Jabhat al-Nusra.

"With the imposition of today’s lengthy sentence, Redzepagic pays a steep price for his misguided embrace of terrorism and his attempts to join ISIS and the al-Nusra Front in order to wage violent jihad," said Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

In court Friday, Redzepagic apologized for his actions.

"Forgive me all," he said. "I am not violent. I apologize for everything,"

Defense attorney David Roche said Redzepagic was addicted to drugs and alcohol and was sent by his parents to stay with family in the Balkans, where he became radicalized online. In July 2015, Redzepagic traveled to Turkey and tried to cross into Syria, prosecutors said.

But Roche said his client had no money or assets in Syria and that his "harebrained" plan was largely delusional. Redzepagic, he said, never left Istanbul.

"This is not the type of plan that anyone in their right mind would think would have any chance at success," Roche said.

But federal prosecutor Artie McConnell said Redzepagic "decided to adhere to an extreme ideology and, for a lack of a better term, became radicalized … He is a dangerous and unpredictable individual who must be incapacitated to protect the public."

In Facebook messages, Redzepagic discussed committing "jihad" and predicted "there will come a time where people will only know to say Allahu akbar," prosecutors said. Investigators also found a variety of ISIS-specific extremist propaganda on his laptop, documents show.

Prosecutors said Redzepagic told federal investigators he was "prepared to strap a bomb on and sacrifice himself." But Redzepagic denied that claim, and prosecutors agreed Friday to remove the allegation from a presentencing report.

Before his arrest, Redzepagic had been questioned by FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force agents after his family called Suffolk 911 twice asking police to remove him from their home, prosecutors said. Redzepagic had threatened to cut off his mother’s head and attempted to use a knife to cut off his tattoos, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Redzepagic once told authorities, "I’m going to leave this country and I’m going to come back with an Army — Islam is coming."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.