Massachusetts Man and Rhode Island Man Indicted for Conspiracy to Provide Support to Islamic State

BOSTON – David Daoud Wright, a/k/a Dawud Sharif Wright, a/k/a Dawud Sharif Abdul Wright, a/k/a Dawud Sharif Abdul Khaliq, 25, of Everett, Mass. and Nicholas Alexander Rovinski, a/k/a Nuh Amriki, a/k/a Nuh al Andalusi, 24, of Warwick, R.I., were indicted today on a charge of conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a designated foreign terrorist organization.  Wright was also charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice and with obstruction of justice.  On June 12, 2015, Wright and Rovinski were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIL.  Wright had previously been charged on June 3, 2015, with conspiracy to obstruct justice.  Both men have been detained since their respective arrests, and a detention hearing is scheduled for both men on Friday, June 19, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.

Wright and Rovinski are alleged to have conspired with each other, with known and unknown co-conspirators, and also with Usaamah Abdullah Rahim, 26, Wright’s uncle, who lived in Roslindale until his death on June 2, 2015.  Rahim was shot and killed after he attacked Boston Police Officers and FBI agents in a Roslindale parking lot.  The indictment charges that Wright, Rovinski, and Rahim agreed to a plan to commit attacks and kill persons inside the United States, which they believed would support ISIL’s objectives.  The indictment further charges that the attack plan included the beheading of at least one person, a New York woman, whom ISIL had identified for murder through a “fatwah,” or religious decree, to ISIL supporters. 

The charge of conspiracy to provide material support provides a sentence of no greater than 15 years in prison, a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice provides a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of obstruction of justice provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. 

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement.

This investigation is being conducted by the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Rhode Island Joint Terrorism Task Force with critical assistance from the Rhode Island State Police, the Warwick, R.I. Police Department, the Rhode Island Fusion Center, the Boston Police Department, the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, the Massachusetts State Police, the Commonwealth Fusion Center, the Everett Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and member agencies of the JTTF. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Stephanie Siegmann and Nadine Pellegrini of Ortiz’s Anti-Terrorism and National Security Unit.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.