On May 25, 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Bilal Abood
was sentenced to four years in prison for making a false statement to the FBI. Abood, an Iraqi translator for the U.S. military, was admitted to the United States through the Special Immigrant Visa program for Iraqi translators in 2009, and subsequently became a citizen. Abood enlisted in the Army and went through basic training at Fort Jackson in 2010, but left for unknown reasons.
According to court documents, after being prevented from boarding an international flight, Abood told FBI agents that he intended to go to Iraq to visit family. Subsequently, Abood left the United States through Mexico and then traveled through various countries to get to Syria to join ISIS. A subsequent search of his computer revealed that he pledged an oath to the leader of ISIS, despite denying that he had ever made such a pledge.