Brooklyn woman who tried to join ISIS sentenced to nearly two decades in federal prison
Sinmya Amera Ceasar, also known as Umm Nutella, was initially arrested in 2016 as she attempted to leave the country through JFK international airport to join ISIS.
A Brooklyn woman was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for providing support to ISIS, obstructing justice, and attempting to flee the US to avoid sentencing, the US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.
Sinmya Amera Ceasar, also known as Umm Nutella, a US citizen, was initially arrested in 2016 as she attempted to leave the country through John F. Kennedy International Airport to join ISIS. She had used multiple social media accounts to spread ISIS propaganda, recruit others in the US to travel abroad and join the terror group, and even expressed her own desire to become a martyr, the statement said.
After pleading guilty in 2017 to conspiring to support ISIS, Ceasar agreed to cooperate with authorities. But prosecutors say that trust was swiftly broken. While out on bail in 2018, she secretly resumed contact with known ISIS supporters, deleted more than 1,000 electronic communications, and lied to investigators - leading to a separate guilty plea for obstructing justice in 2019.
Despite these serious violations, she was sentenced to just 48 months by the late US District Judge Jack B. Weinstein. That decision was later overturned by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which deemed it "shockingly low."
But by then, Ceasar had already completed her sentence adn was under supervised release. Instead of complying with supervision, she downloaded unapproved apps, reconnected with extremist contacts, and solicited funds from other ISIS supporters. In 2021, the day she was due to be resentenced, she cut off her ankle monitor and boarded a bus to New Mexico, setting off a nationwide manhunt.
Authorities discovered she had been in contact with individuals in Afghanistan, seeking help to reach Russia or the Middle East—just hours after ISIS-Khorasan carried out a deadly suicide bombing at Kabul Airport that killed 13 US service members and hundreds of civilians.
She was arrested two days later and pleaded guilty to failure to appear in court in October 2022. Even after being returned to custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, she continued to break prison rules, evade communications monitoring, and remain in contact with ISIS affiliates, according to the Department of Justice.
'An unrepentant ISIS recruiter'
“Her [Ceasar] actions demonstrate a failure to truly accept responsibility,” said David J. Scott, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. “She ultimately cut off her electronic monitoring device and went on the run. With today’s sentencing, she is being held accountable for her criminal actions.”
US Attorney John J. Durham added that Ceasar was “an unrepentant ISIS recruiter” whose incarceration is necessary to protect Americans from her extremist ideology.
The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant US Attorney Ian C. Richardson and Assistant US Attorney Andrew D. Reich of the Eastern District of New York.