Long Island Man Faces Terrorism Charges After Failed Trip to Yemen
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Version 0 of 1. A Long Island man who the authorities say tried to fly to Yemen to join a branch of Al Qaeda was charged on Friday with conspiring to commit murder overseas and other terrorism counts. The man, Marcos Alonso Zea, 25, an American citizen and a convert to Islam who is from Brentwood, Long Island, was stopped by British customs officials in London on his way to the Middle East in January 2012 because he did not have a passport to enter Yemen. The authorities there sent him back to the United States, and New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force opened an investigation and found that Mr. Zea had continued to participate in a terrorist conspiracy even after returning home, court documents said. Over the next year, an undercover agent secretly recorded Mr. Zea bragging about lies he had told British officials and about how he had helped another man make plans to join Al Qaeda, according to court documents. At a court appearance on Friday in Federal District Court in Central Islip, Mr. Zea appeared calm, dressed in the jeans and light brown polo shirt that he was wearing when he was arrested that morning. His black wiry hair was drawn back in a ponytail. He pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. In addition to the murder conspiracy charges, Mr. Zea faces charges of trying to provide material support to terrorists and obstruction of justice. If convicted, he would face 30 years to life in prison under the federal sentencing guidelines. Mr. Zea is the latest example of an American who, the authorities say, tried to join the Qaeda ranks overseas only to face prosecution in the Eastern District of New York. Others include Najibullah Zazi, Adis Medunjanin and Ahmed Zarein, three men from Queens who trained overseas with Al Qaeda before returning to New York and plotting to bomb subways. Mr. Zea’s family said it was unaware of his alleged interests in violent jihad. His brother has been in the United States Air Force for three years and was scheduled to be deployed to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, said Mr. Zea’s father, Albaro, outside of the courtroom. His mother, Sandra, said: “This is all a lie. I know how I raised my son.” Mr. Zea’s case is closely connected to the case of Justin Kaliebe, 18, of Babylon and Bay Shore, Long Island, who pleaded guilty this year to providing material support to terrorists. Like Mr. Zea, Mr. Kaliebe tried to travel to Yemen, in January of this year; investigators arrested Mr. Kaliebe at Kennedy International Airport before he boarded a flight. In the year between Mr. Zea’s return from London and Mr. Kaliebe’s arrest, the authorities said, Mr. Zea helped Mr. Kaliebe make arrangements to join Al Qaeda, including giving him money for his trip to Yemen and advice about how to avoid electronic surveillance. But both men were already under surveillance by an undercover agent, court documents said. The agent met with the two men in the days before Mr. Kaliebe planned to leave the country. During the meeting, which was secretly recorded, Mr. Zea said of his own failed bid: “I just hope, my story, my, the event that happened to me will help you guys move forward, inspire you,” according to a transcript of the conversation included in court documents. In April, after Mr. Kaliebe’s arrest and guilty plea, Mr. Zea learned that he was under investigation and told an associate to erase several hard drives that he had used, according to court documents. But investigators obtained the hard drives and discovered several issues of Inspire magazine, a Qaeda publication that promotes violent jihad. Investigators also found a video showing the detonation of a bomb on a vehicle carrying Western military personnel. In interviews outside the courtroom on Friday, Mr. Zea’s parents said that their son, who lived at home and was last employed as a stock boy at Home Depot, knew that he was under surveillance. They said that federal agents watched their home around the clock and followed all of their visitors. “When the Jehovah’s Witnesses would come to the house,” Ms. Zea said, “I would see the F.B.I. cars and I would shake out the pamphlets that I was given to show them that I wasn’t being passed anything.” <NYT_AUTHOR_ID> <p>Angela Macropoulos contributed reporting. |