Mufid Elfgeeh renounces ISIL, feds say

The Rochester pizza shop owner who admitted recruiting for ISIL has "renounced" the Islamic State terrorist organization, federal prosecutors say.

"It is important to note that, during the pendency of this prosecution, the defendant met with the FBI and prosecutors," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Harvey wrote of Elfgeeh in a March 7 court filing. "In the meeting, the defendant gave a full accounting of his criminal activities, including his involvement in recruiting the individuals for ISIL. Notably, the defendant renounced ISIL and its methods during the meeting."

Elfgeeh, who is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in federal court in Rochester, "confirmed that he no longer supports ISIL" in an interview with federal probation officials, Harvey wrote.

Federal prosecutors would not discuss the case, or whether they think Elfgeeh's conversion is genuine. However, they raise no questions in the court papers about his about-face from the Islamic State terrorist organization, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

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Assistant Federal Public Defender Mark Hosken, who represents Elfgeeh, also declined comment. He and Elfgeeh can address the court at sentencing if they choose to do so.

In December, Elfgeeh pleaded guilty to recruiting two men — one of them an FBI informant — for the Islamic State. His plea agreement calls for a sentence of 22½ years in prison. However, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford, who is presiding over the case, could sentence him differently.

Arrested in May 2014, Elfgeeh also was accused of trying to buy firearms to kill returning American troops. He pleaded guilty only to the recruitment charges, however.

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In his papers. Harvey writes that the proposed punishment "is a fair and just" sentence.

"Such a severe sentence — the equivalent of more than two decades in prison —  adequately accounts for the nature and circumstances of the offenses of conviction, the history and characteristics of the defendant, and the need to protect the public from further crimes by the defendant," Harvey wrote.

In a court filing, Hosken notes that others convicted of and sentenced for the same crimes — providing "material support" for the Islamic State — have received lesser sentences than that proposed for Elfgeeh. Those sentences range from 82 months to 243 months.

Elfgeeh, who has no previous criminal convictions, owned a pizza shop/convenience store on North Clinton Avenue when he was arrested.

GCRAIG@Gannett.com