HENRICO COUNTY, Va. – The FBI arrested a Henrico man, and alleged supporter of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), on gun charges weeks after he was released from state prison.
Casey Charles Spain, 28, served seven years in prison on abduction with intent to defile charges. The registered sex offender was released from prison August 11.
"While incarcerated, Spain became radicalized and adopted extremist Islamic views. He obtained a tattoo on his cheek that reads 'Cop Killa,'and a tattoo of the ISIS flag on his back," court documents indicated. "Two confidential sources of information who had contact with Spain while he was incarcerated separately reported that Spain swore a pledge of loyalty, commonly known as bayat, to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS."
Casey Charles Spain
Those informants told law enforcement Spain said he planned to travel overseas to engage in jihad on behalf of ISIS.
They said he threatened violence in the U.S., if he was not allowed to travel overseas.
"Given this information, the FBI began conducting intensive surveillance of Spain immediately upon his release from incarceration," a spokesperson for United States Attorney Dana Boente said. "This surveillance included making covert contact with Spain through FBI undercover employees (UCE) and a confidential human source (CHS)."
Spain spoke to the source several times about his desire to get a gun and support ISIS, according to the United States Attorney's Office.
"Because of Spain’s violent history, his stated intentions, and the impatience he exhibited with regard to obtaining a firearm, the FBI organized an undercover operation in which the CHS would make a controlled delivery of a handgun, which he told Spain was his own personal weapon," the spokesperson said. "The weapon used in the undercover operation was a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic handgun. For safety reasons, FBI personnel made the handgun inert."
The sting went down August 31, outside Spain's Harvie Road home.
"At that meeting, the CHS provided Spain the above-described firearm. Immediately thereafter, the FBI Richmond SWAT team executed an operation to arrest Spain, who then attempted to flee law enforcement by running and jumping a nearby fence," the spokesperson said. "FBI SWAT members pursued Spain on foot and quickly apprehended him, along with recovering a cell phone and the gun, which Spain had discarded during the foot-chase."
Spain is being held without bond.
He is due back in court September 6.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the gun charges.
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