BALTIMORE - A federal judge sentenced a 22-year-old Maryland man to 15 years in prison followed by lifetime supervised release for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, after the man revealed plans to join the jihadist group as a fighter and separately plotted attacks against Jewish targets in Howard County.

U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson imposed the sentence on Michael Sam Teekaye Jr., who pleaded guilty on Jan. 30 to one count of attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. FBI agents arrested Teekaye at Baltimore/Washington International Airport on Oct. 14 after he checked in for a flight to Istanbul with a layover in London, the first leg of a planned route through Ethiopia and into Somalia to join ISIS.

“Mr. Teekaye sought to support a foreign terrorist organization that has committed unspeakable acts of violence and took real-world steps to carry out a terrorist attack in Maryland,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O’Hayes for the District of Maryland. “Today’s sentence underscores that those who seek to aid terrorist organizations will be identified, prosecuted, and held fully accountable.”

Court documents detail a sustained radicalization. Between March and April 2023, Teekaye told an undercover officer he wanted to travel to Africa to join ISIS as a “mujahid,” or fighter. His “plan B,” he said, was to carry out an attack in the United States against Jews and people who support Israel. He told the officer he had researched buildings close to him that support Israel and thought about how to “gun down key members or anyone involved.” On three occasions in May and June of 2024, Teekaye purchased ammunition and range time at a shooting range in Severn, Maryland, which he described as part of his “training.” In July 2024, he attempted to purchase a Kalashnikov K-9 9mm assault rifle but was denied because he was on probation in a state criminal case.

Between August and October 2024, Teekaye engaged with a Somali ISIS fighter who provided him an Ethiopian e-Visa and airline tickets. On Oct. 4, Teekaye told the undercover officer he had received the tickets. On Oct. 10, he sent a photo of himself wearing a black mask and holding a large machete, adding, “Victory or shahada [i.e., martyrdom] … either you do it here or over there or both.” The next day, asked if he was “sure” he wanted to join ISIS, Teekaye responded that he had done “a lot of research” and “they are the only group that has the most true and sincere intentions.”

After his arrest at BWI, Teekaye made unprovoked statements to agents: “I’m just gonna get out in 20 years and I’m just gonna do it here. Okay? Okay? It will never stop. Jihad will never stop. I’ll just do it here then, when I get out.” He referenced a recent attack in which ISIS prison inmates killed four Russian penal colony guards, threatened to kill a guard, kicked and spat on an arresting agent, and continued: “You think 20 years is something? I’ll be like 40 when I get out, then I’ll just do it. I don’t care. It will never stop. Jihad will never stop.”

“This sentencing reinforces the gravity of Michael Teekaye’s crimes,” said Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul of the FBI Baltimore Field Office. “Undoubtedly, lives were saved because law enforcement thwarted Teekaye’s plan to join ISIS and murder Americans.”

An FBI search of Teekaye’s cell phone revealed multiple searches for specific Jewish and Israeli individuals and organizations in Howard County, along with searches for “how to break into a home” and “how to escape murder.” A rabbi who was among those targeted submitted a victim-impact statement and spoke at the sentencing. After Teekaye entered his guilty plea, guards discovered two homemade weapons in his jail cell, including a large knife. The case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Christina Hoffman for the District of Maryland with assistance from Trial Attorney Elisa Poteat of the Justice Department’s National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. Teekaye now faces lifetime supervised release upon completion of his 15-year sentence.