A 31-year-old Pakistani doctor residing in the United States has been handed an 18-year prison sentence followed by five years of supervised release for his attempt to provide material support to the global terrorist organization Da’ish (ISIS).

Dr. Muhammad Masood, who was employed at a research clinic in Rochester, was apprehended at an airport in March 2020 and subsequently convicted by a court in Minnesota, according to US media reports.

In August 2022, Dr. Masood pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to provide material support to Da’ish. The US Justice Department’s press release revealed that he had expressed his desire on multiple occasions to join the terrorist group, even pledging allegiance to its leader. He also voiced intentions to carry out “lone wolf” terrorist attacks within the US.

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Specifics from the press release indicated that in February 2020, Dr. Masood purchased a plane ticket from Chicago to Amman, Jordan, with intentions to continue on to Syria. However, his plans were disrupted in March when Jordan closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result, he altered his travel route, planning to fly from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, where he believed an individual would assist him in traveling by cargo ship to reach Da’ish territory.

On March 19, 2020, as he arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to board the flight to Los Angeles, he was arrested.

Dr. Masood had initially entered the US from Pakistan on an H-1B visa, which is typically issued to experts in various fields from around the world.