Keyes man is charged with trying to join ISIS

A criminal grand jury in Brooklyn has indicted a Keyes man on terrorism charges for allegedly trying to join ISIS fighters in North Africa.

Bernard Raymond Augustine, 22, pleaded not guilty last week and remains in custody pending trial in federal court in New York.

Authorities in Tunisia intercepted Augustine in early 2016 on his way to Libya and imprisoned him for two years, then turned him over to the FBI, which brought him back to the United States in February.

Prosecutors say Augustine, before leaving Keyes, researched how Americans might join the Islamic State and say he bought a one-way ticket to North Africa without telling his family. He also viewed online beheadings at the hands of terrorists and predicted in a social media post that radical Islamic warriors would control the world within 100 years, prosecutors say.

Augustine formerly attended Pitman and Roselawn Continuation high schools, both in Turlock, and graduated from Roselawn in December 2013. His security guard permit with the state of California expired in March 2017.

A case status conference is scheduled for Oct. 9.

Garth Stapley: 209-578-2390

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This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 4:05 PM.