Man released to halfway house in ISIS case ordered back to jail

Abdullahi Yusuf of Inver Grove Heights
Abdullahi Yusuf of Inver Grove Heights has pleaded guilty to attempting to join ISIS.
Courtesy of Sherburne County

A man released to a halfway house pending trial after he pleaded guilty to trying to join the terrorist group ISIS was ordered back to jail Monday.

Abdullahi Yusuf, 19, appears to have violated halfway house rules, according to a detention order from the court signed by Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis. On April 23, "it was determined that Mr. Yusuf may have violated halfway house rules," according to the order.

In January, Davis ordered Yusuf be placed in an experimental program where the suspect received counseling and civic education classes through Heartland Democracy, a Minneapolis nonprofit which runs the program.

As part of his release to the halfway house, Yusuf was ordered to surrender his passport, refrain from using the Internet, wear a GPS and have no contact with co-defendants.

It's unclear which rules he violated according to the detention order.

Yusuf is the first defendant to plead guilty in the federal government's investigation into Minnesotans who have traveled or attempted to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

He pleaded guilty in February to conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

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