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Ibraheem Musaibli
Update, 4:45 p.m. Monday: Ibraheem Musaibli, 30, of Dearborn, who is accused of being an ISIS soldier, won't go free while awaiting his October trial on terrorism charges, U.S. District Judge David Lawson ruled Monday.
Federal authorities alleged in court papers that Musaibli had threatened to kill one of his lawyer if released. Still, his team of attorneys had argued that he should go free.
But Lawson ruled that Musaibli might flee the state if freed, The Detroit News reports.
Original article, Saturday:
A legal team is fighting to get bond for a Dearborn man accused of being an ISIS soldier who hates America. However, the man has threatened to kill his lawyer as soon as he's released, according to a government court filing.
U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit will decide the bond issue Monday for Ibraheem Musaibli, 30, held in the Livingston County Jail on charges linked to the Islamic extremist group. A trial is set for October.
The story of the bond issue was first reported by Robert Snell of The Detroit News.
Musaibli was arrested on the Syrian battlefield in 2018 and subsequently indicted on allegations of knowingly providing and attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He was detained by Syrian Democratic Forces and was transferred to U.S. custody in July 2018.
He has been in federal custody nearly three years. His attorneys say he's harassed in jail because he's Muslim. He's in isolation.
"Musaibli’s continued disdain for America coupled with his repeated demands to be sent to Yemen make him both a flight risk and a danger to the community. Musaibli’s motion for bond should therefore be denied," the U.S. Attorney's Office argued in an April 22 filing.
Musaibli was born in Michigan, but spent considerable time in Yemen, his parents' birthplace, the court document states. He left the U.S. in 2015 and spent a few months in Yemen before sneaking into Syria to join ISIS. He trained with the organization and eventually fought in combat, the government alleges.
In a July 2016 conversation with his cousin, he called America “immoral,” and said: “I swear to God, one must not live in America because there is so much wickedness.” He then said about his parents, who live in Dearborn: “They are mad at me because I always tell them to get out of the country of the infidels as the Prophet had advised.”
In arguing against bond, the government questioned his ties to the community:
Much of Musaibli’s history is unremarkable: he worked for his parents’ perfume shop after dropping out of high school; he has had three failed marriages; he has rarely seen his four children (including not even having met two of them); and has few financial resources. Musaibli may have some physical and mental health issues, but none that support his release from custody.
Further more, the government wrote:
Musaibli expresses that he wants to be imprisoned in an Arab country rather than “this infidel country.” Finally, over a discovery issue, Musaibli claimed that “as soon as he is out he will kill [his] attorney.
His attorneys, John Shea and James Gerometta, write in a motion filed last week that Musaibli denies being an ISIS member. He's not a danger or flight risk, they say
As for the threat about killing his attorney, they write:
Mr. Musaibli has been locked up for almost three years; his frustration is understandable, and defense attorneys routinely deal with clients directing their frustrations at them. Undersigned counsel are confident that, at worst, the call reflects this frustration and they do not take his words literally.
► The government's bond motion response (12 pages)
