US teen pleads guilty to providing material support to ISIS

A 17-year-old in Virginia has pleaded guilty to providing material support to the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

Ali Amin, of Manassas, Virginia, used social media to provide instructions on how to use the virtual currency Bitcoin to send funds to militants, and he helped another Virginia resident travel to Syria to join the group, the department said. Amin faces up to 15 years in prison, the department said.

Lawyer Joseph Flood says the crime consisted primarily of Amin expressing his views about the conflict in Syria. Before his arrest, Amin was an honor student Osbourn Park High School in Manassas.

Juveniles rarely face charges in the federal system, and the case remained under seal for several months while prosecutors navigated the process to have the charges moved into adult court.