Former pizza parlor worker accused of trying to support ISIS pleads guilty

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston-area man accused of supporting the terrorist organization ISIS pleaded guilty Wednesday to two federal counts, nearly two years after he was arrested during a raid on his apartment.

Anas Said, a former pizza parlor employee, stood before U.S. District Judge David Hittner in his federal courtroom and admitted to concealing videos he made promoting ISIS and to lying to FBI agents who questioned him about it.

During the plea agreement in court, Said acknowledged that he tried to hide the ISIS-related promotional videos by removing his personal logo from them, and that he lied to an FBI agent when confronted about the videos.

Federal agents arrested Said at his apartment in November 2024. Cell phone video from that day captured the moment agents took him into custody, as his mother could be heard wailing in the background. She told ABC13 at the time that the charges against her son were "fake news."

At the time of the arrest, the then-U.S. attorney and the FBI special agent in charge said investigators had been monitoring Said for almost a decade. They alleged he had not only promoted ISIS online and in Facebook posts, but had bragged that he would carry out an attack if he had the resources to do so.

Said's boss at the pizza parlor where he worked said at the time she was shocked by the allegations, describing him as a reliable employee who was never late and never missed a day of work.

Wednesday's guilty plea is the result of a deal between Said and federal prosecutors. No members of Said's family were present in court for the hearing.

Said's attorneys told the court they would present a fuller account of the case in the sentencing report, but declined to comment to ABC13 cameras as they left the courthouse.

Said now faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Hittner is scheduled to sentence him in October, though that date could still be pushed back.