Mayo Clinic former researcher pleaded guilty to terrorism charges, sentenced to 18 years prison

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A former Mayo Clinic researcher pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release for attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

According to court documents, Muhammad Masood, 31, a licensed medical doctor in Pakistan, was formerly employed as a research coordinator at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, under an H-1B visa.

Between January 2020 and March 2020, Masood used an encrypted messaging application to facilitate his travel overseas to join a terrorist organization. Masood made multiple statements about his desire to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS), and he pledged his allegiance to the designated terrorist organization and its leader.

Masood also expressed his desire to conduct “lone wolf” terrorist attacks in the United States. On Feb. 21, 2020, Masood purchased a plane ticket from Chicago, Ill., to Amman, Jordan, and from there planned to travel to Syria. On March 16, 2020, Masood’s travel plans changed because Jordan closed its borders to incoming travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. Masood then agreed to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, Calif. to meet up with an individual who he believed would assist him with travel via cargo ship to deliver him to ISIS territory.

On March 19, 2020, Masood traveled from Rochester to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) to board a flight bound for Los Angeles. Upon arrival at MSP, Masood checked in for his flight and was subsequently arrested by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Masood pleaded guilty on Aug. 16, 2022, to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Masood was sentenced Friday before Senior Judge Paul A. Magnuson.

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew R. Winter for the District of Minnesota and Trial Attorney Dmitriy Slavin National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.