A mother of seven from Wisconsin suspected of hacking Facebook accounts to recruit supporters to the Islamic State has been sentenced to over seven years in prison, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Forty-eight-year-old Waheba Issa Dais from the suburb of Cudahy pleaded guilty for attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq as well as al-Sham. According to prosecutors, Dais confessed to hacking Facebook accounts and swore her allegiance to the ISIS terror group in addition to being in contact with other fanatical supporters.
The Wisconsin woman “helped facilitate planning for attacks in the United States on behalf of ISIS and overseas by providing instructions on how to make explosives, biological weapons and suicide vests,” the FBI wrote in an affidavit used to support the criminal complaint.
The affidavit went on to say that Dais “provided detailed instructions to people interested in attacks and attack planning. Dais has also expressed a personal desire to travel overseas in support of ISIS.”
At first she pleaded not guilty to two counts of providing material support to terrorists; however, the prosecutors dropped one charge in return for her guilty plea.
Authorities confirmed that Dais used social media to recruit prospective ISIS members and urged supporters who were unable to travel to ISIS-controlled regions to instigate terror attacks in their countries of origin. Facebook security contacted the FBI when it came to their attention.
Agents discovered that Dais hacked several Facebook accounts from unsuspecting victims and altered their profile pictures, friends lists and display names, according to the affidavit.
The Facebook image used on some of the hacked pages was of a sympathetic young girl in a blue dress, the FBI alleged, before saying that the photo was taken “as part of a series documenting Yazidi, a minority population in northern Iraq, fleeing their hometown to escape violence caused by the Islamic State militants.”
“These cases demonstrate the continuing and evolving terrorism threat posed by foreign terrorism organizations,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin Matthew Krueger.
FBI officials said they found evidence that she “also appeared to be engaged in detailed question and answer sessions discussing substances used to make bombs.” The prosecution discovered that Dais supposedly posted video instructions on making an explosive belt, dynamite, and Ricin.
Moreover, the FBI says they found proof that Dais intended to use the lethal poison, ricin, in an attack on a government building or a reservoir in the country during one of her discussions with their informant.
Officials said that the mother of seven suggested street festivals and summer celebrations as potential targets for terror attacks.
In one message, the FBI documented that Dais asked, “Remember Boston marathon bombing? It was very easy to make. All it needs is a pressure cooker, shrapnel and explosives. Join my channel and research.”
“Dais not only personally pledged her allegiance to a terrorist organization but took steps designed to help others cause death and destruction around the world,” Krueger said. “I commend the agents, analysts, and attorneys who worked hard to bring Dais to justice.”
Prosecutors commented there was no solid evidence that Dais was directly tied to a specific plot, but her dealings needed serious consequences.
“The significant sentencing underscores the serious consequences for those who choose to support terrorist groups and their plans to attack our citizens,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Hughes said.
Dais was born in Jerusalem but was permitted to live in the U.S. in 1992 without so much as a passport because she married a U.S. citizen. She was divorced in 2003, court records show, but now she is a lawful permanent resident who the FBI says has no standing occupation.