New Yorker pleads guilty to recruiting for IS group

A New Yorker who was one of the first recruiters for the Islamic State (IS) group captured in the United States pleaded guilty on Thursday to attempting to provide material support to the group.

Mufid Elfgeeh, 31, faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release, with the United States on alert for terror attacks after a mass shooting in California on 2 December.

He used social media to spread IS propaganda, declare support for the group and to seek financial contributions, as well as to attempt to recruit fighters.

Elfgeeh pleaded guilty "to attempting to provide material support and resources" to IS, the US Justice Department said in a statement.

"One of the first ISIL recruiters ever captured in this country stands convicted of terrorism-related charges," said US Attorney William Hochul, using an alternative acronym for the IS group.

Hochul urged the American public to "continue to report to law enforcement any suspicious individuals or activities and thereby hasten the demise of these killers".

Between December 2013 and 31 March 2014, Elfgeeh recruited and tried to send two individuals – both of whom were cooperating with the FBI - to Syria to fight with the IS group.

Elfgeeh is scheduled to be sentenced in March.