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WILLIAMSBURG, VA — An Indian American Hindu supporter of the Islamic State was arrested on July 5 on charges of lying to the US Army and the US Air Force on a job application.
Shivam Patel, 27, of Williamsburg, Virginia, has been charged with one count of “making materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or misrepresentations in a matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch of the Government of the United States.”
In an affidavit filed June 30 in the District Court of Eastern Virginia, FBI Special Agent Thomas Pembroke stated that Patel had long sympathized with the Islamic State and with al Qaeda.
Patel’s parents had said that the young man had converted to Islam several years ago, and had become "obsessed with Islam."
Patel lived with his parents in Williamsburg. His parents provided consent to the FBI to search their son’s bedroom. Special agents surveilling the room found a computer, which revealed multiple searches for Islamic State-related material, IS-related propaganda videos, and information on how to join the Islamic State.
Patel was to make his first court appearance July 11. If convicted of the single charge, Patel faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.