WASHINGTON — A Metro Transit Police officer was indicted on federal terrorism charges on Thursday.
Nicholas Young, 37, of Fairfax, Virginia, is charged with of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and obstruction of justice, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Virginia said.
Young is accused of sending a few hundred dollars worth of gift card codes that could be used to pay for communications services to people he believed would use them to help the Islamic State group.
The obstruction of justice charge is tied to a text message Young sent in 2014 to a confidential informant whom he believed had traveled to Syria to join ISIS. In an attempt to deceive federal investigators, the message suggested that the informant had gone to Turkey for a vacation.
If convicted of the two charges, Young faces up to 60 years in federal prison.
Young was fired by the police department in August upon his arrest. He worked for the agency for 13 years.
Metro Transit officials reported concerns to the FBI regarding Young as far back as 2009. FBI agents first spoke with Young in 2010 and based on statements he made to an undercover officer, the agency launched an investigation.
Young is accused of purchasing $245 worth gift cards in July to make it easier for overseas militants to communicate with potential recruits in western countries.
