|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
This post is one in a partnership between the Rochester Beacon and veteran reporter Gary Craig, featuring articles published on his Substack site.
Mufid Elfgeeh, a former Rochester pizza shop manager now incarcerated for terrorism-related crimes, has prison officials so worried about his mental stability that they recently chose to fly him between prisons for safety reasons.
Last week Elfgeeh, now accused of trying to kill a cellmate with a shiv, was flown from Kentucky to a federal facility in Houston, Texas for a mental evaluation.
Officials opted to fly Elfgeeh instead of other transport means because his “institutional behavior necessitated small-aircraft transportation due to security concerns.”
No more details were available in court records but Elfgeeh’s competency—his ability to follow and assist with his legal proceedings—will determine whether he will be tried. Court records show that he has claimed he has been treated inhumanely and wrongly placed in isolation while imprisoned.
Elfgeeh was scheduled for trial earlier this year on an attempted murder charge.
Attempts to teach Elfgeeh’s attorney this week were unsuccessful.
Elfgeeh’s terrorism crimes
A decade ago I wrote extensively of Elfgeeh’s arrest and terrorism-connected crimes. He pleaded guilty to recruiting fighters for the Islamic State and received what was then the longest sentence in the country for a crime of his type.
Elfgeeh, now 41, was sentenced to just over 22 years for providing “material support” to the Islamic State terrorist network. He is now scheduled for release just days before 2035, unless convicted on his current charges.
He was the first American citizen accused of recruiting for ISIS, the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant jihadist organization, also called ISIL.
When arrested, Elfgeeh ran a pizza shop on North Clinton Avenue.
As well as attempting to recruit soldiers for ISIS via two dozen social media accounts, Elfgeeh also was accused of plans to shoot returning American troops. He purchased two firearms, a silencer and ammo from an informant working for the FBI.
The guns were inoperable.
Allegations of attempted murder
In January 2019, prosecutors allege, Elfgeeh assaulted his cellmate at the high-security prison in McCreary County, Kentucky. Both were incarcerated in a special housing unit.
“Elfgeeh purportedly used a homemade shank to repeatedly stab the victim in the head, neck, and shoulders,” court records say.
Elfgeeh was not immediately charged with a crime. As his attorney has said in court papers, the FBI initially decided not to investigate the alleged assault. Instead he was disciplined internally.
“The record does not explain why the prosecution arose, after the initial FBI declination, but another two years passed before a federal grand jury indicted Elfgeeh on the charge of attempted murder arising out of the altercation,” a judge wrote in court papers.
(There is a discrepancy here, perhaps explained in the voluminous court papers. Elfgeeh was indicted in 2023, four years after the alleged assault. It’s possible the grand jury indictment was not handed up until 2023. I wrote of the indictment for the Democrat and Chronicle. (My earlier story here: Former Rochester pizza shop owner imprisoned for ISIS recruiting now accused of attempted murder.)
Elfgeeh’s mental state
Even when sentenced for his terrorism crimes, Elfgeeh’s mental stability was at question.
“You have some significant mental health issues that I don’t know that you’ve received … treatment for,” U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford said at his sentencing.
Elfgeeh has already been deemed competent once since his 2023 indictment, but he has consistently warred with his lawyers – his latest is a replacement for earlier attorneys – and has plastered the courts with his own handwritten motions and requests.
His current state has prompted his lawyer, Patrick Nash in Lexington, Ky., to request the competency exam be conducted in Houston.
Nash wrote in a July filing that he and his investigator think “there is reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Elfgeeh is presently suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he cannot fully understand the proceeding and cannot meaningfully participate in the preparation of his defense.”
Nash filed a separate document under seal outlining specifics about why he questions Elfgeeh’s competency. Elfgeeh in court papers is now expressing “dissatisfaction” with his lawyer.
A federal judge in September ordered a new competency exam.
Should Elfgeeh be deemed competent and go to trial, his attorney wants to keep his Rochester crimes out of the discussion. His lawyer wants a prohibition from questions to Elfgeeh about the offenses should Elfgeeh testify.
“The prejudicial impact will be significant,” Nash wrote in court papers. “There are very few felonies that carry as many negative connotations as a felony involving terrorism.”
Gary Craig is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer. A retired Democrat and Chronicle reporter, he now writes on Substack.
The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].