Palm Beach, FL–A West Palm Beach, Florida man pleaded guilty on Feb. 8 to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, federal authorities said.
According to the factual basis, 54-year-old Gregory Hubbard, aka “Jibreel,” was arrested on July 21, 2016, at Miami International Airport where he and an FBI confidential human source (CHS) had been driven by co-defendant Darren Arness Jackson for a scheduled flight to Berlin, Germany. From Berlin, Hubbard intended to travel to Syria to join ISIS.
At various times during the conspiracy, which ran from approximately July 2015 until Hubbard’s arrest, Hubbard, and his co-defendants, Dayne Antani Christian and Jackson, talked with the CHS about their support for ISIS and jihad, including acts of terrorism committed by and attributed to ISIS and its supporters. During the conspiracy, Hubbard and his co-defendants including the CHS and others, practiced shooting weapons multiple times in preparation for Hubbard and the CHS traveling to Syria to join ISIS.
Hubbard, a U.S. citizen, will be sentenced on April 19, and faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Christian pleaded guilty on March 29, 2017, to conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS, and to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jackson pleaded guilty on April 4, 2017, to conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS. Christian and Jackson both face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy plea. Christian faces an additional statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for his plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Both men are scheduled to be sentenced following Hubbard’s sentencing in April.
The FBI and JTTF investigated the case with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Transportation Security Administration; Miami International Airport Police Department; Boca Raton, Florida, Police Department; Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office; City of West Palm Beach Police Department; and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
