Chicago City Wire

A man from suburban Chicago has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and attempting to support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). Jason Brown, 42, of Lombard, Illinois, was found guilty of providing $500 on three occasions in 2019 with the understanding that it would be sent to an ISIS soldier involved in terrorist activities in Syria. The individual receiving the money was cooperating with law enforcement, and the supposed ISIS fighter was an undercover officer.

In addition to his attempts to support ISIS, Brown trafficked fentanyl and other drugs from California to Chicago suburbs and illegally possessed several loaded firearms related to his drug trafficking operations. He pleaded guilty last year to charges including attempting to provide material support to ISIS, distributing fentanyl, and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.

U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland delivered the sentence on October 16, 2024. Since his arrest in 2019, Brown has remained in custody.

The announcement of the sentencing came from Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security at the U.S. Department of Justice; Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI's Chicago Field Office; Ramsey E. Covington, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's Chicago Field Office; and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

The case received substantial assistance from multiple agencies including Illinois State Police, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations as well as police departments in Lombard and Addison along with FBI Field Offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn McCarthy represented the government alongside S. Elisa Poteat from the Justice Department’s National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section.