Daniela Greene
Born1980 (age 43–44)
Czechoslovakia
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTranslator
Spouse(s)Matthew Greene
Denis Cuspert

Daniela Greene, born in Czechoslovakia in 1980 and raised in Germany, became an American citizen after marrying a US Armed Services member. She earned her bachelor's degree in Oklahoma and a master's degree in history from Clemson University in 2008. In 2011, she joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a contract linguist with the help of her thesis supervisor, Alan Grubb. Greene was assigned to communicate with Denis Cuspert, an ISIL member, during a covert FBI investigation in 2014. However, she secretly used an additional Skype account to communicate with Cuspert and traveled to ISIL-occupied Syria, where they married and she became a ISIL bride.

Within weeks, Greene realized her mistake and managed to return to the US, where she was arrested and pleaded guilty. After cooperating with authorities, she received a lighter sentence than other similar cases and served two years in prison. Following her release, she moved to Syracuse, New York, and found employment at a hotel. In 2019, Greene was compared to Hoda Muthana, an Alabama widow who married a Jihadi fighter but was determined to have never had US citizenship.[1][2][3]

Biography

Greene was born in Czechoslovakia but raised in Germany.[1] She earned a bachelor's degree in Oklahoma, and a master's degree in history at Clemson University in 2008.[4]

Alan Grubb, her thesis supervisor, described her as one of his best students.[1] Several years after her graduation, he wrote letters of recommendation that helped her get a job as a contract linguist with the FBI in 2011.[3]

In 2014, the FBI was conducting a covert investigation into Denis Cuspert. As part of that investigation, Greene was assigned to communicate with him over Skype.[1]

Unknown to her FBI superiors, Greene used an additional Skype account to communicate with Cuspert.[1] Greene told her FBI superiors she was going to use a vacation to visit relatives back in Germany, when in reality she had used her third, unauthorized Skype account to plan to meet Cuspert in ISIL-occupied Syria.[3] She told her FBI supervisors that she was leaving for Germany on June 11, 2014, and would return to Detroit on July 4, but actually travelled to ISIL-territory via Turkey instead.

Greene married Cuspert in ISIL-occupied Syria.[1] CNN reported that Greene realized she had made a mistake within weeks of her arrival and found a way to return to the US, knowing she would face arrest and imprisonment. Commentators do not know how she was able to escape ISIL when many other people were not able to escape.[5]

Greene was arrested, cooperated, and pleaded guilty. CNN reported that her charge and sentence was considerably lighter than those of other Americans who had merely made unsuccessful attempts to travel to ISIL territory.[1] CNN quoted speculation that prosecutors asked for a light sentence to reward her for her cooperation.

Greene was released after serving a two-year sentence and relocated to Syracuse, New York,[1][6] where she found employment as a hostess at a hotel.[5]

In 2019, when ISIL's last enclave was collapsing, Greene was compared to Hoda Muthana, an Alabama widow who had married a Jihadi fighter and then escaped to a refugee camp, and was determined to have never had US citizenship.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Scott Glover (2017-05-01). "The FBI translator who went rogue and married an ISIS terrorist". CNN. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-04-26. Greene's saga, which has never been publicized, exposes an embarrassing breach of national security at the FBI—an agency that has made its mission rooting out ISIS sympathizers across the country.
  2. ↑ Nicole Morley (2017-05-02). "FBI translator falls in love with Isis terrorist she was assigned to investigate". Metro (UK). Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  3. 1 2 3 Tresa Baldas (2017-05-02). "FBI translator secretly married Islamic State leader". USA Today. Detroit. Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-26. On June 11, 2014, Greene told an FBI supervisor in Indianapolis that she was traveling to Germany to see her family. She filled out the required form and listed "vacation/personal" as the reason for going. Her declared return date: July 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ Tresa Baldas (2017-05-02). "FBI translator in Detroit secretly married ISIS leader". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-04-26. Amid the investigation, court records show, Greene fell in love with Cuspert, sneaked off to Syria in the summer of 2014, married him and warned him that "the FBI had an open investigation into his activities." She quickly became disenchanted — e-mailing an unnamed person that she had "made a mess of things" — and somehow managed to escape Syria and get back to the U.S., where she was arrested.
  5. 1 2 "FBI woman went to Syria to wed IS recruiter she investigated". BBC News. 2017-05-02. Archived from the original on 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-04-26. Greene's story was ordered to be kept secret by a US judge, but was revealed for the first time on Monday after federal court records were unsealed.
  6. ↑ John O'Brien (2017-05-04). "FBI translator, now living in Syracuse, disclosed investigation to ISIS terrorist, papers say". Syracuse Today. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  7. ↑ Dave Madoor (2019-02-21). "Hoda Muthana Denied US Citizenship: Other ISIS Brides From The Country". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-04-26. Daniela Greene was an FBI translator from Detroit who was secretly married to an ISIS leader after she converted to Islam. While she was assigned to investigate a designated terrorist, she snuck off to Syria and married Denis Cuspert. She also warned him about the FBI having an open investigation about his activities. Cuspert was a known ISIS recruiter who made and appeared in several ISIS propaganda videos.
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