American ISIS Defector Hopes to Avoid Prison: Report

PHOTO: Muhammad Jamal Khweis, 26, of Fairfax County, booking photo courtesy of Fairfax County Police; second photo from a video posted to Twitter by @ Kurdistan83

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FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA -- An American ISIS defector captured in March, a graduate of Edison High School here, is hoping to avoid prison time by discouraging others from joining the group.

Muhammad Jamal Khweis, being held without bail in Virginia, faces federal charges -- alleging he provided material support to terrorists and agreed to be a suicide bomber -- that could put him away for 20 years.

Khweis’ attorney, John Zwerling, tells radio station WTOP Khweis “would like to try to discourage other people from making the same mistake he did.” Zwerling told the radio station he expects Khweis to be indicted soon.

The reported ISIS fighter who surrendered in March, walked into an area controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga near the Turkish border, according to news reports. Peshmerga are the military forces of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Khweis started researching ISIL in December, sold his car and flew to London and made contact with ISIL, traveled to Turkey and Syria, NBC reported.

Fairfax County Public Schools identified Khweis as a 2007 graduate of Edison High School in the Kingstowne area of Fairfax County, according to a report by WUSA-9.

Khweis was not flagged in any U.S. security database, NBC News' Richard Engel reported; the United States, he reported, didn't know Khweis had gone to fight for ISIS until he gave himself up.

The Associated Press spoke to Khweis' father, who lives in the Kingstowne area of Fairfax County. Outside the Khweis home, near Edison High School, heated words were exchanged, after Khweis surrendered, between his father and reporters gathered outside and he reportedly pushed and hit cameras and turned a water hose on them, according to a report by WUSA-9. Police arrived to try to calm the situation. The father said he had spoken with the FBI, trying to find out what was going on with his son.

"That's him. I cannot believe it," his uncle, Kamal Khweis, told NBC News. "He doesn't even speak Arabic. ISIS? I cannot believe this."

Kamal Khweis told NBC News that his nephew told his family he was going to Europe for vacation and when they last heard from him, he said he was in Greece.

Khweis defected from the group, walking up to a checkpoint in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, CBS News reported. The Associated Press reported that he had a large amount of cash with him.