Detroit man Jibreel Pratt punished for ISIS terror group support

Robert Snell, The Detroit News on Nov 13, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

A Detroit man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Thursday for trying to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Jibreel Pratt, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood amid a renewed focus on Metro Detroiters trying to support the terror group, a focus driven by the arrests of at least eight men this fall, including five people from Dearborn, following raids last month at two homes in Dearborn on Halloween.

Pratt, a FedEx worker who dropped out of the Navy Seals, was sentenced four months after pleading guilty to two counts of concealing material support to a foreign terrorist organization in a case that developed after prosecutors accused him of unwittingly exchanging incriminating messages with an FBI informant. During those chats, Pratt said Americans "are savages. Like rabid dogs" and said he wanted to create a terrorist cell in Metro Detroit.

Prosecutors wanted Pratt to spend nine years in prison, arguing he swore a binding oath to help ISIS expand its reach and said a shorter sentence "would undermine general deterrence for other terrorists."

"He said that the kufir (non-Muslims) 'must still fear that they cannot hide even in their land,'" Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Salzenstein wrote in a sentencing memorandum. "Pratt painstakingly developed plans for ISIS 'to operate in the shadows' and 'kill' as many (non-Muslims) as possible."

Defense lawyer Todd Shanker agreed a nine-year sentence was appropriate. He portrayed Pratt as an intelligent man with a background in cybersecurity who has never been in trouble with the law "and he never wants to be in custody again," Shanker wrote in a sentencing memo.

"In sum, Jibreel Pratt is an intelligent young man who involved himself in something that he now recognizes was foolish and dangerous," Shanker wrote. "He has a fully supportive family who will be waiting for him when he is released."

In March and May 2023, Pratt transferred Bitcoin to the informant, who Pratt believed was an ISIS member. The cryptocurrency was intended to help pay for people to travel and join ISIS and finance an act of violence on behalf of the terror group.

Prosecutors say Pratt hid the transfers ― $880 in total ― by using an encrypted app and a private network.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a separate criminal case charging Pratt with wire fraud and other financial crimes.

Prosecutors also alleged Pratt stockpiled weapons and battlefield gear, tried to obtain advanced missile technologies and acquire explosive devices — including suicide drones and remote-controlled cars.

The court filing offered an intimate view of the roots of a terrorism investigation and a profile of an accused ISIS volunteer who wanted to leave America.

Prosecutors included photos of handwritten plans by Pratt to create an ISIS intelligence unit to “kill or kidnap without detection” and pictures of Pratt with firearms. That included an image of a loaded handgun federal agents found hidden within a dog food container during FBI raids across the region.

Pratt's involvement with the FBI informant dates to February 2023, according to the government. Using an encrypted WhatsApp number, Pratt contacted the informant, who was posing as an ISIS travel facilitator, prosecutors allege.

Pratt's profile photo on the app was a picture of Anwar al-Awlaki. The late radical American-born cleric trained underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009.

Pratt's plans included ideas for using explosives against the Islamic State's enemies, according to the FBI. One aspect involved using suicide drones and detonating remote-control cars.

"During these conversations, Pratt said that he ordered a drone so that 'I’ll be able to practice and see if I can exploit it some way' and know how to operate them,'" prosecutors wrote.

Pratt also suggested using magnets to attach remote control cars packed with explosives under vehicles.

Meanwhile, Pratt was stockpiling weapons.

In March 2023, he sent the FBI informant a photo of guns, including an AR-style long gun and a handgun, prosecutors allege. FBI agents seized two of his guns in August 2023 when he was arrested in the fraud case.

"Pratt told the ISIS source that Pratt is '100% certain' that he 'will have zero issues with' the weapons portion of his ISIS training," prosecutors wrote. "Pratt admitted that explosives training 'will be a new skill for me' and 'an interesting one to learn.'"

_____