Sacramento judge sentences Russian-born man to prison in bid to aid Syrian terror group

After making an emotional plea for mercy in a Sacramento courtroom, a Russian-born man guilty of attempting to provide financial support to an anti-government group in Syria was sentenced Monday to 12 years in federal prison.

Murat Kurashev, a 37-year-old father of four, had been facing up to 20 years in prison for what prosecutors say was an effort to support a foreign terrorist organization trying to topple the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by sending $13,000 overseas to couriers for the group.

Kurashev pleaded guilty in January without a plea agreement to a single felony count, and on Monday told Chief U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller that he thought he was helping to support media activists working to expose atrocities by the Assad regime.”

“I promise I will never make such a mistake again,” Kurashev said in a statement interrupted as he broke down recounting violence against Syrian children.

“I have four little kids and I love them more than my own life,” Kurashev said. “Until now, I was never apart from my kids’ lives for more than one day.

“I do not believe in violence. I don’t ever want to be part of something that hurts someone.”

Prosecutors portrayed him in a different light, writing in court papers that Kurashev sent the money to couriers for Farrukh Fayzimatov, a fundraiser for Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a foreign terror group known as HTS.

“From review of social media and encrypted mobile messaging discussions between Kurashev and Fayzimatov, it is clear they equate providing money in support of the foreign terrorist organization’s fighters as tantamount to being engaged in violent jihad,” prosecutors Heiko Coppola and Dmitriy Slavin wrote in arguing for a 20-year term. “During these conversations with Fayzimatov, Kurashev mentioned that he wished he could join the fight in Syria as a Mujahideen and regretted that he could only provide financial support.

“The conversations between Fayzimatov and Kurashev make clear that Kurashev was fully aware of Fayzimatov’s support of HTS and his violent extremist ideology.”

Assistant Federal Defender Christina Sinha argued that the government was asking for far too much prison time for her client, who she said was remorseful and had spent the last three years since his arrest taking hundreds of hours of classes in jail and teaching himself English.

“He admits that what he did was wrong,” Sinha said, noting that Kurashev has no history of criminal activity. “He admitted that what he did was illegal.

“He’s embarrassed that he ever got into this situation in the first place.”

Sinha argued for an eight-year sentence, telling the judge that Kurashev would not re-offend and that he “continues to take responsibility for his actions and does so every day.”

She wrote in court documents that Kurashev had suffered severe beatings and torture at the hands of Russian security services before he fled his homeland, eventually making his way to Mexico with his family and applying for asylum.

“They were put on a bus by the border authorities and arrived in Sacramento on December 19, 2018,” Sinha wrote. “Mr. Kurashev, who had prior experience working in construction, got a job with a construction company working as a general laborer.

“He was in high demand with his employers because he has experience and expertise working in a wide variety of construction tasks, which meant his employer could utilize him for many different roles instead of having to search out people with individual expertise in areas such as cabinetry, tile-laying, or other specialized tasks.

“This work allowed him to support himself, his wife, and their four young children. He was working full-time with this construction company at the time of his arrest.”

Sinha said that after his February 2021 indictment, he endured sitting in the Sacramento County Main Jail as it was ravaged by COVID-19. She noted that after he serves his prison sentence he will face deportation.

At one point, as Kurashev was reading his pre-sentencing statement to Mueller, he became so emotional that Sinha had to step in and finish reading it.

Mueller said she believed a 240-month sentence was more than necessary, but rejected the plea for eight years.

“It is not possible to overstate the seriousness of the offense,” the judge said.

U.S. Attorney Phil Talbert’s office said that from July 2020 to February 2021 Kurashev wired $13,000 overseas using “multiple transactions from Kurashev to the couriers in Turkey, usually in increments of $1,000.”

“This sentence holds Kurashev accountable for attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization,” Talbert said in a statement. “Kurashev’s attempts to provide that material support were not isolated. They took place over a substantial period of time and his intent with those financial transfers was clear.”