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| 3 men in US terror ring get 15-45 years in prison | |||||
| 2012-01-15 | |||||
NEW BERN, North Carolina: Three members of a homegrown terror ring who conspired to attack the Quantico US Marine Corps base and foreign targets were sentenced Friday to between 15 and 45 years in federal prison.
Dozens of members of RaleighÂ’s Muslim community made the five-hour round-trip to coastal New Bern to witness the hearing for the men whom supporters believe were unjustly convicted.
“I believe I am innocent. There was no conspiracy,” said Serifi, who called his guilty verdict unfair and prosecutors tyrants. But US District Judge Louise Flanagan said the men went beyond talk to planning violence. Yaghi was a “self-starter” in pursuing holy war against those deemed un-Islamic and brought several potential jihadi recruits to ringleader Daniel Patrick Boyd, whose rural Johnston County home was a warehouse of weapons, Flanagan said. Yaghi traveled to Jordan and Israel to look for avenues to join other militants and to scout targets for an attack. Sherifi discussed an attack on the Quantico, Virginia, Marine Corps base with Boyd, a Muslim convert who had lived on the base as a child with his Marine officer father. Hassan used his Facebook account and Internet forums to post his own comments and videos by others encouraging Muslims to fight nonbelievers and Muslims who did not agree with their desire to establish mandatory religious law, prosecutors said. Hassan also attempted to contact Anwar Al-Awlaki, an American-born Muslim preacher and Al-Qaeda propagandist, and e-mailed a co-conspirator a copy of Al-Awlaki’s tract “44 ways to support Jihad,” Flanagan said.
The trio is among eight men who federal investigators say raised money, stockpiled weapons and trained in preparation for jihadist attacks. The plot “had a specific purpose — to inspire others to adhere to radical Islam and if you did not you were fair game,” prosecutor Jason Kellhofer said. Hassan called his actions stupid, but not a crime. “I did post some highly inflammatory things on the Internet, but I am no terrorist,” he said. He rejected Flanigan’s sentence, and his father, Aly Hassan, accused the judge and prosecutors of targeting Muslims.
Yaghi was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism and conspiracy to carry out attacks overseas. Sherifi was convicted of both crimes, two counts of firearms possession, and conspiracy to kill federal officers or employees for plotting the Quantico attack. Hassan was convicted of providing material support to terrorists, but acquitted of a charge of conspiracy to carry out attacks overseas. Boyd pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges in February and has yet to be sentenced. Two of his sons pleaded guilty to similar charges and were sentenced to eight years and nine years in prison. Another defendant, Anes Subasic, is set to be tried separately, while an eighth indicted man is at large and believed to be in Pakistan.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 |
| Posted by: Charles 2012-01-15 16:45 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: RandomJD 2012-01-15 15:25 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-01-15 09:29 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: American Delight 2012-01-15 08:21 |