SUBURBAN CHICAGO MAN GAVE PHONES HE THOUGHT WOULD BE USED IN TERRORIST ATTACKS OVERSEAS

An Illinois man will spend more than a decade in prison after providing phones he thought would be used to denote ISIS devices overseas. 

Joseph D. Jones, 38, of Zion, Illinois, was convicted by a federal jury for communicating with undercover FBI Agents between 2015 and 2019, discussing “his devotion to ISIS and his commitment to ISIS principles,” including support for the group’s violent extremism.

A federal judge sentenced him to 12 years behind bars this week, according to the Department of Justice. 

Jones provided cell phones to a witness in 2017, believing that the phones would be used to detonate terrorists’ explosive devices in ISIS attacks, according to prosecutors.  

On April 7, 2017, authorities said Jones drove with a cooperating individual to O’Hare International Airport outside Chicago, with the understanding that the cooperating individual would be traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS.

A co-defendant, Edward Schimenti, 39, of Zion, Illinois, was also convicted of the conspiracy charge, as well as a charge of making false statements to the FBI.  Schimenti is scheduled for sentencing on April 9, 2021.