FBI translator in Detroit leaves US to marry ISIS leader she was tracking

Daniela Green left to marry ISIS leader after having Skype conversation with him

DETROIT – An FBI translator with top-secret security clearance who worked as a translator for the FBI assigned to the Detroit field office ran off to the Middle East and married an ISIS leader she was tracking, officials said.

Now, after the woman returned to the United States and spent two years in prison, the story is coming out.

Daniela Green worked at the Detroit field office every day to track a notorious member of ISIS until she walked out one day and ran to the Middle East to marry him.

Green is out of prison now, but she refuses to speak to the media because she fears for her family's safety. In 2014, Green was assigned to the FBI's Detroit field office as a contract translator.

"Every field office in the FBI has translators," Andy Arena, of the Detroit Crime Commission, said. "There's a huge contingent here in Detroit."

Arena is the former FBI special agent in charge of the Detroit field office. He now heads the Detroit Crime Commission.

Arena said he didn't know Green or supervise her.

Green was using her German skills to help track the known ISIS terrorist, who happens to be a German national and rapper. His name is Denis Cuspert, but he goes by Abu Tahal-Al Amani.

Green fell under his spell over Skype.

"You can't make this up," Arena said. "This is like something out of a Lifetime movie."

Green was married at the time, but she walked out of the office, told her colleagues she was going to visit family in Germany, flew to the Middle East and got into Syria. There, she married a man who had previously held the severed head of an ISIS victim in a viral video.

Within days, Green realized her mistake and sent a series of emails, saying things such as, "I am in a very harsh environment and I don't know how long I will last here, but it doesn't matter. It's all a little too late."

Green managed to get out of Syria 30 days later and returned to the United States, where she was immediately arrested. Court records show she cooperated fully with the FBI and was given a two-year sentence. Her story has now gone public.

"These guys are unbelievably adept at using social media to lure in people to be terrorists, but to lure somebody in romantically, I'm just stunned," Arena said.


About the Authors:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.