"The defendants donated money themselves and in some cases collected funds from others in the US and sent the donations overseas," according to the indictment cited by the agency, which was unsealed on Friday in St Louis. "Two of the defendants used some of the money to buy US military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment, which was shipped to people in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to terrorists."
Three of the six defendants are naturalized US citizens, while another three have the status of refugee or legal resident in the US. Two of those named, Nihad Rosic, 26, from New York, and Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, of St Louis County, are also charged with conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country, which carries a maximum life sentence. Rosic is described as trying to board a flight from New York to Syria last July.
According to a report from USA Today, prosecutors believe Ramiz Hodzic collected almost $8,000 to support IS fighters, and used $2,400 of that money to buy military equipment from businesses in St. Louis including military uniforms, combat boots and rifle accessories. Also named in the document was Abdullah Ramo Pazara, a naturalized US citizen also from Bosnia who in May 2013 traveled to Syria from the US to become a guerrilla fighter. The report reveals that Pazara was not indicted as he is believed by federal authorities to have died last year.
