CINCINNATI, OH – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has affirmed the 20-year prison sentence of Benjamin Alan Carpenter, also known as “Abu Hamza,” for providing material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) by translating the group’s propaganda into English.
According to court records, Carpenter founded Ahlud-Tawhid Publications, an organization that translated and published ISIS materials online. Working through Telegram, Carpenter collaborated with someone he believed was affiliated with ISIS to translate videos promoting the terrorist organization’s activities.
Federal investigators uncovered Carpenter’s communications and obtained evidence showing that he knowingly provided translation services intended to further ISIS’s propaganda. He was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee in 2021 and sentenced to 240 months in federal prison.
On appeal, Carpenter argued that translation work was not covered under the federal statute prohibiting the provision of material support to terrorist organizations and that his sentence was excessive. The Sixth Circuit rejected both arguments, holding that translation constitutes a “service” under 18 U.S.C. § 2339B and that his within-guidelines sentence was appropriate given the severity of the offense and his lack of remorse.
