(KTXL) A Russian national who was living in Sacramento pleaded guilty Monday to “attempting to provide material support to” a terrorist organization that operates in Syria, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
The office said 36-year-old Murat Kurashev sent thousands of dollars to two known couriers of a person who raised funds for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group that the U.S. secretary of state has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
The group, which split from al-Qaida in 2017, is a “relatively localized Syrian terrorist organization,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Between July 2020 and February 2021, Kurashev transferred about $13,000 to the couriers in Turkey, who then retrieved the money, the office said.
