Articles by Jon Seidel

Internet

Former DePaul University student gets 7.5 years for trying to help Islamic State with computer program Thomas Osadzinski’s prosecution was believed to be the first of its kind when it began three years ago — a terrorism case brought against a U.S.-based defendant involving computer code.

November 17, 2022   

(Chicago Sun-Times) An unusual terrorism case in Chicago came to a close Thursday when a federal judge handed a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence to a former DePaul University student who tried to aid the Islamic State with a computer script. Before he was […]

Internet

Former DePaul University student guilty of trying to help Islamic State through computer program Defense attorneys said the case ran up against fundamental questions about free speech, insisting that Thomas Osadzinski 'had a right to watch those videos. He had a right to share those videos.'

October 18, 2021   

(Chicago Sun-Times) A federal jury on Monday convicted a onetime student at DePaul University of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State in the form of a computer script that helped disseminate the terrorist group’s propaganda. Jurors at the Dirksen […]

Legal

Zion man gets more than 13 years in prison for conspiracy to support Islamic State, telling informant ‘I want to see blood flowing’ U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood called Edward Schimenti the 'more culpable' of the two men charged in the case, but she also described the crime as 'on the less serious end of a scale that starts at a very serious level.'

April 9, 2021   

(Chicago Sun-Times) A federal judge on Friday sentenced a Zion man to 13 and a half years in prison for taking part in a conspiracy to support the Islamic State, in part by collecting cellphones he thought could be used as detonators […]

Internet

Chicago man accused of helping preserve Islamic State propaganda on social media Thomas Osadzinski, a 20-year-old college student, has been charged in a criminal complaint with one count of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization

November 19, 2019   

(Chicago Sun-Times) Thomas Osadzinski said he couldn’t just “sit in the chair while Muslims are dying,” so he allegedly studied bomb-making and promised he would not be stopped “once I get my gun and explosive belt.” But the 20-year-old Lake View resident […]

Law Enforcement

Two suburban men guilty of providing support to Islamic State It’s rare for a terrorism case to go to trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. And in the lead-up to this one, defense attorneys convinced the judge they should be allowed to present an entrapment defense to the jury.

June 20, 2019   

(Chicago Sun-Times) The FBI descended on their north suburban home in a raid two years ago that began with a “boom,” neighbors said. Then, the feds unveiled a 77-page criminal complaint in April 2017 that accused Joseph D. Jones and Edward Schimenti […]