Air Force veteran tried to join ISIS, U.S. alleges

Air Force veteran tried to join ISIS in Syria but was turned back by Turkish authorities before he could get to the war-torn country, U.S. authorities allege in a two-count indictment announced Tuesday.

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, accused of making the foiled attempt in January, was indicted by a grand jury this week on charges of trying to give material support to the terror group and obstruction of justice, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Among the evidence, prosecutors allege: Investigators discovered on his laptop computer recent Internet searches for information on "borders controlled by Islamic state," and a chart of crossing points between Turkey and Syria, where ISIS controls some territory.

Pugh, 47, was arrested upon his return to the United States in January and will be arraigned Wednesday in a federal court in New York, the Justice Department said.

"Pugh, an American citizen and former member of our military, allegedly abandoned his allegiance to the United States and sought to provide material support to ISIL," Assistant U.S. Attorney General John Carlin said, using an alternate acronym for the Islamist terror group that controls territory in parts of Iraq and Syria.