Former Bklyn man accused of fi ghting for ISIS
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BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A one-time Brooklyn resident
faces 20 years in prison
for allegedly serving Islamic
terrorist group ISIS as a highranking
sniper, according to
federal court documents unsealed
Friday.
Ruslan Maratovich Asainov,
41, has provided training, services,
and personnel to the designated
terrorist organization
Islamic State of Iraq and al-
Sham for the last fi ve years, according
to U.S. Attorney Richard
Donoghue.
The suspect — a naturalized
U.S. citizen born in Kazakhstan
— lived in Brooklyn from 1998
until December 2013, when he
left his Bay Ridge home to travel
to Syria via Turkey to join ISIS
as a marksman, before rising
to the rank of “emir,” when he
began training other members
and attempting to recruit additional
radicals from the U.S. —
betraying his adopted country,
Donoghue said.
“The defendant, a naturalized
U.S. citizen residing in
Brooklyn, turned his back on
the country that took him in
and joined ISIS, serving its
violent ends in Syria and attempting
to recruit others to its
cause,” stated Donoghue.
The defendant fought for
ISIS for at least a year after he
arrived in Syria, a U.S. based
informant told agents with the
Federal Bureau of Investigations,
who also reviewed messages
the pair exchanged between
2014 and 2015.
After the informant texted
Asainov about ISIS, he tried to
recruit the English speaking
whistleblower for the group’s
media operations, telling him
that the terrorist organization
would provide him a job, housing,
food, and a $50 stipend per
month, noting that “even the
grandmothers are coming,” according
to authorities.
In March 2015, Asainov
asked the informant to send
him $2,800 so that he could
buy a scope for his rifl e, as well
as other military equipment.
The informant didn’t send the
money, according to a spokesman
for Donoghue.
The American-backed Syrian
Democratic Forces got a
hold of Asainov, detaining him
for several months before handing
him over to federal agents,
who transferred him to the U.S.
on July 18, where he arrived at
John F. Kennedy International
Airport.
Asainov was arraigned before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven
Gold Friday afternoon, who
ordered that he be held without
bail until his next court date,
which has not been set.
He is currently being held at
the federal Metropolitan Correctional
Center in Manhattan,
the same detention facility
that also houses wealthy fi nancier
and accused pedophile Jeffrey
Epstein and — up until last
week — the notorious drug lord
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán,
who has since been relocated to
an out-of-state prison.
The former Brooklynite held
his head down and answered
Judge Gold’s questions only reluctantly,
and his defense attorney
claimed her client does not
recognize the American court’s
legal authority.
“I think he doesn’t recognize
our courts to be a legitimate
authority and he was making
that point,” Susan Kellman told
reporters outside the federal
courthouse on Cadman Plaza
E. after the arraignment.
Asainov has not been formally
charged, and federal
prosecutors have 30 days to
make their case before a grand
jury seeking an indictment.
The 5 foot 4 inch defendant
sported a buzz cut and a short
goatee on Friday, and appeared
wearing a white t-shirt and
black pants in court.
Kellman described him to
reporters as “pleasant” and “respectful,”
adding that he spoke
fl uent English from his 15 years
of living in Kings County.
“His English is perfect and
he lived in Brooklyn — he’s a
Brooklyn boy,” she said.
He has family overseas, but
Kellman said she wasn’t aware
whether he had any relations in
the U.S.
She also could not say
how long Syrian forces kept
Asainov in prison, or what the
conditions were like there. The
attorney did, however, note that
other clients she’s dealt with reported
brutal conditions overseas.
Asainov was reluctant to answer the federal judge’s questions because he
did not recognize the court’s authority, his defense lawyer Susan Kellman
told reporters outside the Cadman Plaza E. courthouse on July 19.
Photo by Kevin Duggan
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