Biography
The FBI began investigating Jamshid Muhtorov, a refugee from Uzbekistan, after he began communicating with the administrator of a website run by the Islamic Jihad Union. Intercepts of Muhtorov’s communications allegedly showed that he swore allegiance to the Islamic Jihad Union and arranged to join them. He was arrested after attempting to board a flight to Turkey.
Case characteristics: FISA surveillance, cooperated with prosecutors. Organization referenced in charging documents: Islamic Jihad Union.
Case data and description from The Intercept's Trial and Terror project (Trevor Aaronson and Margot Williams), licensed CC BY-NC. Source: https://github.com/theintercept/trial-and-terror-data
The Tenth Circuit’s December 8, 2021 opinion in co-defendant Bakhtiyor Jumaev’s appeal explains that the investigation used Section 702 surveillance of a person abroad to obtain traditional FISA surveillance of Muhtorov, evidence from which was then used against Jumaev. The opinion records the court’s concurrent rejection of Muhtorov’s speedy-trial challenge and affirmance of his convictions. Judge Carlos Lucero dissented from the speedy-trial result, arguing that governmental discovery and classified-evidence delays required reversal; that was the dissent’s position, not the court’s holding. No additional custody time is added.
The reviewed individual original criminal-prison episode ended on 2021-06-18. Exact identity and case context are matched to the original FJC evidence and official prisoner record. This endpoint does not establish unrestricted freedom from later immigration or foreign detention.
After the June18,2021 criminal-prison release, ERO took him into immigration detention at Clinton County Correctional Facility. The January10,2022 official report says actual removal occurred Friday, January7,2022. ICE then transferred him to Uzbek authorities; this is a UnitedStates-custody endpoint, not proof of unrestricted freedom. The actual ICE admission day is not separately established.
The opinion in his own appeal records an initial indictment on January 23, 2012, denial of release without bond on February 15, 2012, the start of jury selection on May 14, 2018, and a June 21, 2018 verdict convicting him on three counts and acquitting him on a fourth. The December 8, 2021 majority affirmed. Although it found that the unusually long detention and loss of a defense witness prejudiced him, it held that the discovery, translation and classified-evidence proceedings justified the delay overall. Judge Carlos Lucero dissented and would have vacated the convictions for denial of a speedy trial; his proposed relief was not the court’s judgment. This historical decision does not change the separately documented criminal-prison and immigration-custody endpoints. Original appellate opinion, physical pages 41–43 and 55–70.
