Feb. 10--A west suburban mother of four facing federal charges in Missouri alleging she sent money and supplies to terrorist fighters overseas works for a cargo service company that handles goods coming into and going out of O'Hare International Airport, prosecutors in Chicago said Monday.
Prosecutors are seeking to detain Bosnia native Mediha Medy Salkicevic, arguing she poses a flight risk and a danger to the community. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole held off on a decision until Tuesday.
At a court hearing Monday, prosecutors revealed that Salkicevic was arrested in a traffic stop Friday afternoon and told authorities at the time that her family was on its way to renew passports for her two youngest daughters for an upcoming trip to Bosnia next month.
Salkicevic, 34, of Schiller Park, was charged in an indictment unsealed Friday in St. Louis with conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and providing material support to terrorists, including the Islamic State and al-Qaida in Iraq.
Salkicevic, wearing an orange jumpsuit and black hijab, grinned broadly and put her fist in the air as she was led into Cole's courtroom Monday. As she sat in the jury box waiting for the hearing to begin, she nodded at several family members in the courtroom gallery, miming to them to hold their chins up and not to cry.
According to the indictment, Salkicevic and five others charged -- including a woman from Rockford -- organized the conspiracy in various ways, including through Facebook. The conspiracy began in May 2013, with Salkicevic using email, phones and social media websites such as Facebook to communicate using code words like "brothers," "lions" and "Bosnian brothers," the charges alleged.
Salkicevic transferred money on multiple occasions to co-defendant Ramiz Zijad Hodzic in St. Louis. Prosecutors allege that the money was then sent to fighters in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.
Payments were made via PayPal and Western Union, according to the indictment. Money also was sent to support family members of terrorist fighters, the charges allege. Salkicevic was aware of where the money and supplies were going, according to the indictment.
Salkicevic made at least three transfers since 2013, according to the indictment: one of $1,500 in August 2013, one of $1,200 in October 2013 and one of $1,062 in January 2014.
After her arrest Friday afternoon, Salkicevic was taken to FBI headquarters on the West Side, where prosecutors said she gave agents a two-hour video-recorded interview without an attorney present. She acknowledged the Facebook and PayPal accounts were hers, prosecutors said.
Salkicevic has worked for the past five years as a supervisor for Alliance Ground International, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors on Monday asked Cole to order her brought to St. Louis by U.S. marshals to face the charges. She has been in custody since her arrest.
In arguing that Salkicevic posed a risk to flee, prosecutors said she has "significant ties" to her native country, where her parents live and she's building a home.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Krull also said Salkicevic's alleged support of violent extremism makes her a danger to the community.
But Salkicevic's attorney, Andrea Gambino, described her as a dedicated mother who has no criminal record and no reason to flee.
"She wants her family to be safe, and she wants to take care of her children," Gambino said. "She wants to clear her name."
Gambino said Salkicevic works a late-night shift seven days a week and that her employer has "nothing but good things to say" about her.
Gambino said Salkicevic was born in Bosnia and came to the U.S. to escape the region's brutal civil war in the 1990s.
Cole said the 30-year prison sentence Salkicevic potentially faces represents a "powerful motive to flee," but he also noted that with her passport seized by federal authorities, she would likely be unable to leave the country.
Besides Salkicevic, the indictment names Hodzic, 40; his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35; and Armin Harcevic, 37, all of St. Louis County; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, N.Y.; and Jasminka Ramic, 42, of Rockford.
In late 2013, Ramiz Hodzic sent Salkicevic a photo of two sniper rifle scopes being shipped, and Salkicevic replied saying she hoped they would be put to good use, according to the indictment.
Cole expressed concern Monday that, according to the indictment, Salkicevic appeared "quite joyous" that the sniper scopes would soon be used to kill people.
"There is at least an element of approval and satisfaction ... over these instruments of death," the judge said.
jmeisner@tribpub.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
