“I want to go to the caliphate and fight there,” Elshazly said. “I can kill maybe…like a hundred kaffir [disbelievers].”
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A Connecticut man who said he wanted to join ISIS so he could kill “a hundred” nonbelievers was sentenced Monday to 92 months in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors had sought 15 years for Ahmad Khalil Elshazly, 29, of West Haven, arguing that nearly seven years behind bars had produced no evidence that he had abandoned his extremist beliefs. Prosecutors also revealed that officers discovered alleged plans for a coordinated uprising inside his detention facility in 2025.
US District Judge Victor A. Bolden sentenced Elshazly to 92 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Elshazly has been incarcerated since his December 2019 arrest, so much of the sentence has already been served.
The government's sentencing memorandum, filed Aug. 30 and obtained by The Post Millennial, shows that Elshazly faced an advisory federal sentencing guidelines range of 360 months to life, capped by the statutory maximum of 20 years. Under his plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 15 years.
The defense presented evaluations from two psychologists. According to the government's memorandum, one, Dr. Reena Baranoski, concluded shortly before sentencing that Elshazly had “significant characteristics associated with [autism spectrum disorder] in the mild to moderate range.” Prosecutors stressed that Elshazly had not previously been diagnosed with or treated for autism during the first 28 years of his life. According to the government, the defense psychologists concluded that additional confinement was unnecessary to rehabilitate Elshazly or prevent recidivism.
Prosecutors countered that the defense's own autism argument raised additional concerns because, by the defense's account, the condition made Elshazly particularly susceptible to ISIS propaganda online. They also cited Baranoski's report stating that getting him to accept therapeutic intervention “will be a challenge.”
According to the government's memo, Elshazly's attorneys suggested that he was primarily motivated by wanting to “protect[] women and children in Syria from harm” and characterized his research into weapons systems as “magical thinking.”
Prosecutors pointed to Elshazly's own recorded statements. During an October 2019 meeting, Elshazly explained why he preferred reaching ISIS territory rather than carrying out an attack in America.
“I want to go to the caliphate and fight there,” Elshazly said. “I can kill maybe…like a hundred kaffir [disbelievers].”
He contrasted that with what he believed he could accomplish in the United States, saying he might kill only “one, two, three” people before being killed himself. Elshazly said going overseas would be “more benefitting” because he could kill more people and receive greater religious rewards.
Elshazly also spoke about his desire to aid Muslims, at one point asking, “How can I help Muslims? How can I do anything?” Following the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, he said he wanted to leave the United States before losing his opportunity “[t]o defend the ummah [Muslim community].” He subsequently pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi's successor.
According to the Justice Department, Elshazly had been working to reach ISIS since at least September 2018. He explored routes through Turkey and Jordan and discussed traveling through Saudi Arabia by falsely claiming he was making the Hajj pilgrimage. He also administered a pro-ISIS Discord server accessible to approximately 20 people. Prosecutors said it contained ISIS materials and propaganda, including execution videos, bomb-making information, and calls for attacks on the West.
Days before his arrest, Elshazly sent an FBI confidential source videos about the operation of AK-47s, AR-15s, RPG-7s, and grenades, along with information about firearms and rockets. “We should make our own guns,” he wrote.
Elshazly subsequently discussed constructing weapons and prototypes in Turkey before smuggling them into Syria for ISIS. On Dec. 14, 2019, he paid $500 to someone he believed could smuggle him out of the United States aboard a boat and eventually get him to Turkey. The next day, Elshazly drove nearly an hour to the rendezvous point. Prosecutors said data extracted from his phone showed that on the way he watched an ISIS propaganda video featuring fighters and executions.
He transferred his bags to the purported facilitator's vehicle and was driven to a marina. FBI agents arrested him as he walked with his belongings toward the person he believed would take him aboard the boat.
Elshazly pleaded guilty in November 2022 to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
His conduct while incarcerated became a major part of the government's sentencing argument. According to the memorandum, Elshazly accumulated disciplinary violations on 15 separate occasions. During a three-month period in 2024, he was disciplined for assault, fighting, interfering with safety and security, and threatening an officer. Later that year, he was disciplined for attempting to assault correctional staff through his cell's food slot.
In August 2025, officers searching his cell allegedly discovered handwritten plans to organize an uprising among inmates. The documents included maps of the detention facility and instructions for resisting correctional officers. One section called for destroying computers, cameras, and other property using objects including laundry stands and a metal bar. Elshazly received another 60 days in disciplinary segregation.
In 2026, prosecutors said Elshazly received another 40 days of disciplinary segregation following three infractions, including fighting another inmate. During an April confrontation with a correctional officer, Elshazly allegedly said, “Y’all want to go to war? Okay, we will go there.”
“In the almost seven years since the defendant was arrested and detained, there is no evidence that he has reconsidered these beliefs or deradicalized,” prosecutors told the court. They described Elshazly as someone who “organized his entire adult life around violent jihad” and remained “unrepentant and prepared to use violence against the institution that holds him.”
Prosecutors argued that even their requested 180-month sentence was substantially below the applicable sentencing guidelines. They calculated that 15 years was 50 percent below the bottom of the otherwise applicable 360-month-to-life range and 25 percent below the 20-year statutory maximum. Bolden ultimately imposed 92 months in prison and lifetime supervised release.
Federal prosecutors had sought 15 years for Ahmad Khalil Elshazly, 29, of West Haven, arguing that nearly seven years behind bars had produced no evidence that he had abandoned his extremist beliefs. Prosecutors also revealed that officers discovered alleged plans for a coordinated uprising inside his detention facility in 2025.
US District Judge Victor A. Bolden sentenced Elshazly to 92 months in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for attempting to provide material support to ISIS. Elshazly has been incarcerated since his December 2019 arrest, so much of the sentence has already been served.
The government's sentencing memorandum, filed Aug. 30 and obtained by The Post Millennial, shows that Elshazly faced an advisory federal sentencing guidelines range of 360 months to life, capped by the statutory maximum of 20 years. Under his plea agreement, prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 15 years.
The defense presented evaluations from two psychologists. According to the government's memorandum, one, Dr. Reena Baranoski, concluded shortly before sentencing that Elshazly had “significant characteristics associated with [autism spectrum disorder] in the mild to moderate range.” Prosecutors stressed that Elshazly had not previously been diagnosed with or treated for autism during the first 28 years of his life. According to the government, the defense psychologists concluded that additional confinement was unnecessary to rehabilitate Elshazly or prevent recidivism.
Prosecutors countered that the defense's own autism argument raised additional concerns because, by the defense's account, the condition made Elshazly particularly susceptible to ISIS propaganda online. They also cited Baranoski's report stating that getting him to accept therapeutic intervention “will be a challenge.”
According to the government's memo, Elshazly's attorneys suggested that he was primarily motivated by wanting to “protect[] women and children in Syria from harm” and characterized his research into weapons systems as “magical thinking.”
Prosecutors pointed to Elshazly's own recorded statements. During an October 2019 meeting, Elshazly explained why he preferred reaching ISIS territory rather than carrying out an attack in America.
“I want to go to the caliphate and fight there,” Elshazly said. “I can kill maybe…like a hundred kaffir [disbelievers].”
He contrasted that with what he believed he could accomplish in the United States, saying he might kill only “one, two, three” people before being killed himself. Elshazly said going overseas would be “more benefitting” because he could kill more people and receive greater religious rewards.
Elshazly also spoke about his desire to aid Muslims, at one point asking, “How can I help Muslims? How can I do anything?” Following the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, he said he wanted to leave the United States before losing his opportunity “[t]o defend the ummah [Muslim community].” He subsequently pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi's successor.
According to the Justice Department, Elshazly had been working to reach ISIS since at least September 2018. He explored routes through Turkey and Jordan and discussed traveling through Saudi Arabia by falsely claiming he was making the Hajj pilgrimage. He also administered a pro-ISIS Discord server accessible to approximately 20 people. Prosecutors said it contained ISIS materials and propaganda, including execution videos, bomb-making information, and calls for attacks on the West.
Days before his arrest, Elshazly sent an FBI confidential source videos about the operation of AK-47s, AR-15s, RPG-7s, and grenades, along with information about firearms and rockets. “We should make our own guns,” he wrote.
Elshazly subsequently discussed constructing weapons and prototypes in Turkey before smuggling them into Syria for ISIS. On Dec. 14, 2019, he paid $500 to someone he believed could smuggle him out of the United States aboard a boat and eventually get him to Turkey. The next day, Elshazly drove nearly an hour to the rendezvous point. Prosecutors said data extracted from his phone showed that on the way he watched an ISIS propaganda video featuring fighters and executions.
He transferred his bags to the purported facilitator's vehicle and was driven to a marina. FBI agents arrested him as he walked with his belongings toward the person he believed would take him aboard the boat.
Elshazly pleaded guilty in November 2022 to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
His conduct while incarcerated became a major part of the government's sentencing argument. According to the memorandum, Elshazly accumulated disciplinary violations on 15 separate occasions. During a three-month period in 2024, he was disciplined for assault, fighting, interfering with safety and security, and threatening an officer. Later that year, he was disciplined for attempting to assault correctional staff through his cell's food slot.
In August 2025, officers searching his cell allegedly discovered handwritten plans to organize an uprising among inmates. The documents included maps of the detention facility and instructions for resisting correctional officers. One section called for destroying computers, cameras, and other property using objects including laundry stands and a metal bar. Elshazly received another 60 days in disciplinary segregation.
In 2026, prosecutors said Elshazly received another 40 days of disciplinary segregation following three infractions, including fighting another inmate. During an April confrontation with a correctional officer, Elshazly allegedly said, “Y’all want to go to war? Okay, we will go there.”
“In the almost seven years since the defendant was arrested and detained, there is no evidence that he has reconsidered these beliefs or deradicalized,” prosecutors told the court. They described Elshazly as someone who “organized his entire adult life around violent jihad” and remained “unrepentant and prepared to use violence against the institution that holds him.”
Prosecutors argued that even their requested 180-month sentence was substantially below the applicable sentencing guidelines. They calculated that 15 years was 50 percent below the bottom of the otherwise applicable 360-month-to-life range and 25 percent below the 20-year statutory maximum. Bolden ultimately imposed 92 months in prison and lifetime supervised release.
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