Two people arrested in August on suspicion of supporting the Islamic State will appear in federal court this summer, court documents show.
Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla’s and Jaelyn Delshaun Young’s trial is set for 9:40 a.m. June 6 at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Aberdeen.
Their Jan. 19 appearance was delayed after U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Aycock granted a continuance Friday to allow defense attorneys to prepare for trial after a psychiatric evaluation was scheduled for Young.
Aycock’s order also reset other deadlines in the case. The pre-trial motion deadline is now May 9, while the defendants have until May 23 to reach a plea agreement.
The judge previously continued the Oct. 26 trial after Young’s defense filed a motion stating counsel had been unable to investigate and review an abundance of discovery material presented by the state.
Dakhlalla, 22, and Young, 20, were arrested in August and charged with conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization after allegedly attempting to fly to Syria, where they would join IS operatives.
A criminal complaint shows FBI agents began tracking both Young’s and Dakhlalla’s social media posts and interacting with the couple in May and June. At least one federal investigator posed online as a middleman for IS while communicating with the duo.
If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“There are two bright, young people with everything to look forward to, born in the freest country in the world and with such loving parents that just blew it,” said U.S. Judge Allan Alexander before denying their bonds in August. “I honestly believe a relative life of privilege has insulated them from the reality of what they were getting themselves into. I think they are both disillusioned idealists, that they couldn’t make a contribution to the United States. I believe that anger and naivete works against them. That anger is still there.”
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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