Man Gets 13-Year Term for Lying About Plan to Join Jihad
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Version 0 of 1. A former Staten Island man was sentenced to 13 years in prison on Friday for lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his attempts to join the Taliban or Al Qaeda to wage violent jihad against the United States. Prosecutors in United States District Court in Brooklyn had sought the maximum 21 years behind bars for the man, Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, arguing that he was following a proven formula of other would-be, homegrown terrorists who succeeded in aligning themselves with extremist groups by traveling to Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. Judge Eric N. Vitaliano imposed the lesser term, however, after suggesting the defendant proved too inept to pull it off. Mr. Shehadeh, 23, appeared in court with his long hair in a ponytail. He spoke briefly, telling the judge a letter he had written asking for leniency expressed his position. His outlook on jihad “has matured over time,” he wrote. “Jihad and terrorism are not synonymous, they are conflicting in my view.” The letter portrayed his failed attempt to get to Pakistan as “an impulsive move” by a misguided young man. Mr. Shehadeh also said that while he was under investigation, he had provided the F.B.I. with valuable information on aspiring jihadists he knew from a mosque in Brooklyn. Among them were Najibullah Zazi, Zarein Ahmedzay and Adis Medunjanin, all convicted in a failed plot to attack the New York City subway system as suicide bombers in 2009. He offered “information on persons who shortly thereafter were arrested on terrorism charges,” Mr. Shehadeh said. But, he added, “I was never credited for my information.” Prosecutors said in court papers that Mr. Shehadeh knew Mr. Medunjanin. But they also insisted his information did not advance the investigation of the subway plot. A jury convicted Mr. Shehadeh earlier this year after hearing some of his friends testify that he spoke of wanting to die while waging violent jihad, or holy war, abroad against the American military. They said Mr. Shehadeh, an American citizen, had hoped to attend a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. Mr. Shehadeh first drew the attention of federal investigators in 2008 when he bought a one-way plane ticket to Islamabad. Pakistani officials would not allow him into the country, and he returned to New York. Prosecutors said that when members of the F.B.I. and the New York Police Department’s joint terrorism task force interviewed him about the trip, he lied by saying he had tried to travel to Pakistan to “study Islamic law.” Four months later, Mr. Shehadeh went to a Times Square military recruiting station and tried to sign up, the authorities said. A friend with whom he had worshiped later told investigators that Mr. Shehadeh had hoped the Army would deploy him to Iraq, where he could desert and join insurgent forces. |