Somali national with familial ties to a senior ISIS-Somalia leader will be deported from the United States after pleading guilty to multiple felony charges of immigration fraud and false statements, federal prosecutors announced Monday.
Sowda Ahmed Mohamud, 27, was sentenced Monday in federal court in San Diego to 48 days in custody, equivalent to time already served, and will be removed from the country. The ruling followed her guilty plea to three felony counts, including making false statements in immigration documents and lying under oath during removal proceedings.
The case stemmed from a year-long counter-terrorism investigation by the FBI’s San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which began after Mohamud was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents on March 20, 2024, for entering the country illegally and claiming asylum. During routine processing, federal agents identified her as “a positive match for an individual suspected of being involved in terrorism or terrorism-related activities.”
“Evidence developed in this investigation was used in Mohamud’s immigration proceedings, which resulted in the immigration judge dismissing her claim for asylum and withholding from removal with prejudice and ordering her removed from the U.S.,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a press release.
According to her plea agreement, Mohamud falsely claimed in her asylum application and sworn court testimony that she had never applied for lawful status in any country, when in fact she had previously submitted applications in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil. She also “fraudulently and intentionally withheld that she had a biological sister, who was residing in the U.S. pending a determination of her own immigration petition.”
Federal agents later discovered that Mohamud also failed to disclose that she had a brother, Mohamed Ahmed Qahiye, “a high-ranking member of the foreign terrorist organization ISIS-Somalia, who was engaged in obtaining money and weapons for that terrorist organization.”
Qahiye was designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in November 2022 as part of its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN). In the SDN designation, OFAC stated that “in early 2020, Qahiye and Sheikh Mumin, the leader of ISIS-Somalia, met with Iranian nationals who paid more than $10,000 to ISIS-Somalia leadership.” OFAC also noted that “ISIS-Somalia senior leaders Qahiye and Mumin requested an arms shipment from Yemen that included more than 20 boxes of AK-47 ammunition, a dozen boxes of pistol ammunition, several boxes of rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and a Russian-designed machine guns.”
“The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting the integrity of our immigration courts by prosecuting those individuals who seek to game our asylum laws through false and fraudulent claims,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “The prosecution of Mohamud for asylum fraud also represents our commitment to ensuring that individuals who might pose a threat to our national security due to their family ties to foreign terrorist organizations are swiftly removed from the United States.”
“Thanks to the efforts of the FBI San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force, Mohamud will be held accountable for her deliberate and fraudulent attempt to undermine our immigration system,” said Mark Dargis, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “This case demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to rooting out anyone with potential ties to known foreign terrorist organizations intent on harming the United States. I commend the JTTF for their thorough investigative work to keep our communities safe.”
Shawn Gibson, Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego, added, “The defendant in this case is alleged to have falsified immigration documents, an act that constitutes a felony and undermines the integrity of our nation’s lawful immigration system. This investigation serves as a clear reminder that HSI and our law enforcement partners are firmly committed to apprehending individuals who seek to reside in our nation under false pretenses, regardless of where they attempt to hide.”
Mohamud had been in immigration custody for approximately 15 months before being formally charged. She did not contest the removal order. U.S. authorities have not confirmed whether she will be deported to Somalia or another country where she previously sought asylum.
