Father of Wakefield teen charged in alleged terrorist financing scheme calls son ‘a loyal American’

(Boston Herald) Paul Ventura was about to leave his Wakefield home Thursday morning when the FBI showed up looking for his 18-year-old son Mateo.

Hours later, the dad opened up to reporters for more than 20 minutes outside the federal courthouse in Worcester about how he believes the feds are entrapping his son, whom he repeatedly called a “loyal American.”

Mateo Ventura was arraigned Thursday afternoon on charges that he allegedly provided support to terrorism in the form of a string of gift cards to a supposed ISIS agent for resale on the dark web, according to federal authorities.

Paul Ventura said it was all a shock.

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