Kenyan man pleads guilty in US to supporting militants groups

A Kenyan man pleaded guilty to supporting three different terrorist organizations, admitting to providing money and recruits in Syria and Somalia, the US Justice Department said.  

The suspect, 27-year-old Mohamed Hussein Said, is accused of providing material support to "foreign terrorist organizations," according to a statement from the Justice Department.

Said, from Nairobi, Kenya pleaded guilty to sending money and recruits to Al-Qaeda, its affiliate Al-Nusra Front, and Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants in Somalia.

He was indicted on 15 counts alongside Gufran Ahmed Mohammed, a naturalized US citizen and resident of Saudi Arabia.

The men were arrested together in Saudi Arabia last year and taken to Miami by US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

"Mohammed sent a series of wire transfers to Said for the purpose of supporting Al-Shebab," the Justice Department said.

"Said also served as a contact and recruiter of foreign fighters from the United Kingdom and elsewhere traveling to Somalia to join Al-Shebab."

The pair also allegedly said they would support Al-Qaeda and Al-Nusra Front fighters by sending recruits to fight in Syria, according to the Justice Department.

The charges against the two men stemmed from a Miami-based investigation involving an FBI employee who enlisted the pair in a financial scheme to back the terrorist organizations, the Miami Herald newspaper reported earlier this year.

Said's sentencing is scheduled for August 14.

If convicted, he faces a maximum statutory sentence of 15 years in prison.