WASHINGTON – Lirim Sylejmani, 49, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Kosovo, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for receiving military training from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and taking part in at least one battle against U.S.-led coalition forces.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, Sue Bai of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Courtland Rae from the Washington Field Office’s Counterterrorism Division.
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Sylejmani, also known as Abu Sulayman al-Kosovi, pleaded guilty on December 12, 2024, to charges of receiving military-type training from a designated foreign terrorist organization. In addition to his prison sentence, Judge Rudolph Contreras ordered him to serve a lifetime of supervised release.
“This defendant will spend a decade in prison thinking about the betrayal to this country,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Anyone thinking that ISIS is the answer to their questions, best think again. We will go to any lengths to root out subversive individuals who want to overthrow the government and harm its citizens.”
According to court documents, between November 2015 and February 2019, Sylejmani received military training from ISIS in Syria. Captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in 2019, he later spoke with multiple media outlets about his involvement with the terrorist group.
In November 2015, Sylejmani, then living in Kosovo, traveled to Syria with his family to join ISIS. After entering the country, he completed ISIS’s intake process, adopted the name Abu Sulayman al-Kosovi, and underwent combat training with other recruits. His training included assembling and firing an AK-47, as well as using a PK machine gun, M-16 rifle, and grenades.
Following 21 days of training, ISIS assigned him to a battalion in Mosul, Iraq. He received an AK-47, four magazines, a magazine belt, and two grenades. Sylejmani pledged allegiance—or “bayat”—to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in front of an Iraqi ISIS member. In May 2016, he reported for ribat (guard) duty during the Manbij offensive, armed with his gear. During a battle with Coalition Forces, he suffered shrapnel injuries to his legs and was later reassigned to another battalion in late 2017. During his time with ISIS, Sylejmani was also paid for his services.
Between November 2017 and February 2019, he relocated his family to Baghouz, Syria, as ISIS’s territorial control diminished.
On February 27, 2019, Sylejmani and his family were captured by Coalition Forces. He was held by the SDF at Dashisha prison in Syria before being handed over to U.S. law enforcement on September 15, 2020, to face charges in the District of Columbia.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force led the investigation.
The case was prosecuted by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brenda J. Johnson, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Wasserman and Kimberly Paschall from the National Security Section, and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
