Iraqi immigrant pleads guilty in federal court in Oregon to supporting Islamic State

By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — An immigrant from Iraq has pleaded guilty in federal court in Portland, Oregon, to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State group by producing and distributing propaganda and recruiting materials online. Hawazen Sameer Mothafar, who is 33, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he’s scheduled to be sentenced on January 11. The case underscores the Islamic State group’s focus on maintaining an online presence, or “digital caliphate,” after the group lost most of its self-declared caliphate in territory it seized in Iraq and Syria by late 2017.