Man who tried to join ISIS gets 20-year sentence

A 25-year-old California man was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years in prison for "attempting to provide material support" to the Islamic State, after he testified that he would try to join ISIS if he was acquitted, according to a Department of Justice press release.

Bernard Raymond Augustine was convicted in August 2021 after a one-week trial in which he represented himself.

In February 2016, Augustine attempted to join ISIS by traveling from San Francisco to Northern Africa, the DOJ stated. He was detained in Tunisia before he could make it to ISIS-controlled territory in nearby Libya. Authorities turned him over to the United States in 2018, when he was prosecuted in the Eastern District of New York.

Before attempting to join ISIS, "Augustine watched ISIS propaganda, including videos glorifying ISIS’s violence, such as 'The Flames of War,'" the press release states.

Augustine also searched the internet for things such as "how to safely join ISIS," and visited websites on Islamic State recruitment, including one titled, "How does a Westerner join ISIS? Is there a recruitment or application process?"

The California man also posted statements in support of ISIS, including "Muslims who leave the west . . . answer the call for the struggle, and march until they are victorious or martyred are the true believers," "the Islamic State is the true Islam" and the ISIS caliphate "can’t be established and maintained except through the blood of the mujahideen who practice the true belief," according to the DOJ.

During his trial, Augustine testified that ISIS execution videos were "really cool" and "good." He admitted that he wanted to support the Islamic State by participating in English-language voice overs for ISIS propaganda videos.

"When asked to confirm his testimony that he 'would do it all again and would go back today,' Augustine responded, 'No, tomorrow, when they let me off,'" the Justice Department wrote.