A Florida man on Thursday was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for attempting to aid ISIS by providing material support to the terrorist organization.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Romeo Xavier Langhorne pledged his allegiance to the group in 2014. After connecting with the group, he sought out like-minded individuals online.
Furthermore, he connected with others, including an undercover agent, in an online chat room. Langhorne expressed his desire to make a video to explain “the making and use of a deadly explosive, triacetone triperoxide (TATP).”
Langhorne continued to speak with the undercover employee, who agreed to produce a video. However, the undercover employee included material that would not cause an explosion.
After obtaining the video, Langhorne distributed it with the goal “to arm ISIS adherents and others with knowledge of how to make TATP and use it for terrorism-related purposes in support of ISIS.”
“The willingness of this dangerous individual to go to great lengths to harm innocent Americans was always very real,” said FBI Jacksonville Special Agent in Charge Sherri E. Onks, “but through hard work and determination, the FBI Jacksonville Joint Terrorism Task Force successfully disrupted his plan early on, and averted a threat to the safety of our community. Moving forward, we remain as vigilant as ever in our efforts to protect the public from others who support terrorist organizations, and we encourage the public to help us by reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement.”
Following the distribution, federal agents arrested Langhorne and charged him with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
“Due to the outstanding cooperation and coordination by our law enforcement partners, great harm to our community was prevented,” added U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg. “I applaud the diligence of those who worked expeditiously to disrupt this threat to our public’s safety.”
Notably, there is no option for parole in the federal system.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Romeo Xavier Langhorne” by Western Virginia Regional Jail and Background Photo “Courtroom” by Clyde Robinson. CC BY 2.0.
