Ninth Circuit orders retrial for Arizona man in ISIS case
Appeals court says evidence insufficient to prove man knowingly supported Islamic State in 2015 attack plot.
The Sandra Day O'Connnor United States Courthouse on April 28, 2026 (Joe Duhownik/Courthouse News)
The U.S.
A majority of the three-judge panel found that the government failed to present sufficient evidence that Kareem intended to provide services to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The court ordered the district court to enter a judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy count and to conduct a resentencing for the defendant.
The case stems from Kareem's 2015 involvement with Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, who were killed by police after traveling from Phoenix to Garland, Texas, to attack a cartoon contest. Kareem was originally sentenced to 360 months in prison after being convicted on five counts, including providing weapons and ammunition to the two men.
Writing for the majority, U.S. Circuit Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. stated that the evidence showed Kareem was independently inspired by the group's ideology but did not prove he knowingly agreed to provide material support or intended for his co-conspirators to operate under the organization's direction. Judge Roopali Desai joined the majority opinion.
U.S. Circuit Judge Daniel P. Collins issued a dissenting opinion, arguing that the majority's interpretation of what constitutes a service to a foreign terrorist organization was incorrect. Kareem had previously secured a new trial on a separate count after the discovery of undisclosed video evidence, which led to that count being dismissed.