Davud Ansariy, a citizen of Uzbekistan and naturalized citizen of the United States, also known as "Kozimjon Gafurov" and "Kozim," will be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lara K. Eshkenazi on an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy and one count of providing material support to the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and al-Nusra
...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ...
h Front (ANF), both foreign terrorist organizations at the time of the charged conduct.
Ansariy was extradited to the Eastern District of New York from Tbilisi, Georgia, on Sept. 23, where he was arrested in August 2026.
According to court filings, Ansariy was the leader of a group of radicalized individuals based primarily in Brooklyn, New York, who planned to travel to Syria to become ISIS or ANF fighters, or who financed the travel of aspiring fighters.
"After a decade on the run, Ansariy is back in the United States where he must answer to the charge that he supported two of the most ruthless terrorist groups in the world, ISIS and the al‑Nusrah Front," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. "As alleged in the indictment, Ansariy ran a network that raised money, arranged travel, and paved the way for individuals who hoped to fight for these foreign terrorist organizations. We thank our partners, domestic and otherwise, for helping us to ensure that bully boyz are apprehended wherever they hide."
The government’s investigation uncovered an extensive financial support network that raised money for those seeking to travel to Syria to join and fight for foreign terrorist organizations.
"More than a decade ago, the defendant fled the United States in an effort to evade justice for his extremely serious crimes," said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. for the Eastern District of New York. "As alleged, the defendant facilitated an expansive network that sought to finance the travel of imported muscle to wage
,The network’s participants referred to the group as "chayxona," an Uzbek word which translates to "tea house" or "tea party."
"This individual allegedly raised funds to help two foreign terrorist organizations and left the U.S. before he could be held accountable," said Assistant Director Jarod Brown of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. "The passage of years and geographic distance will not stop the FBI; we will find those who help foreign terrorist groups and work with our partners to see justice is served. The FBI is committed to finding networks set up to fund terrorist acts and will shut them down."
The group also raised money to help support the families that fighters left behind when they traveled to Syria, and to help support the widows and families of those who were killed fighting. As a result of these "tea party" collections, Ansariy and others funded the travel of at least three individuals to Syria in 2013. All three are believed to have been killed in Syria.
In May 2016, Ansariy departed the United States for
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
on a one-way ticket that he purchased the previous day. His departure from the United States came five days after the arrest of one of Ansariy’s co-conspirators, on May 11, 2016. Since then, Ansariy has remained a runaway. A federal grand jury in Brooklyn returned an indictment against the defendant in November 2021.
If convicted of the charges, Ansariy faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison.
The FBI investigated the case, with the assistance of the New York Police Department, New York State Police, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Port Authority Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Office of the Law Enforcement Attache in Tbilisi and the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia secured the arrest and extradition of Ansariy.
The government’s case is being handled by the Eastern District of New York’s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey R. Oken is prosecuting the case, with assistance from Trial Attorney Joseph Kaster of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Irisa Chen and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Pravda for the Eastern District of New York.