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A U.S. Department of Energy employee from Richland, Washington, has been charged with attempting to provide material support to the Iran-backed Houthis, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).
Federal authorities arrested Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, on Thursday following an investigation by the FBI’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force.
According to court documents, Ellaboudy came to the FBI’s attention after buying precursor chemicals often used to make explosives, as well as drone parts. Investigators also learned he took sick leave in 2024 after claiming he had been exposed to highly concentrated nitric acid.
Using his electrical engineering expertise, Ellaboudy allegedly helped test and modify solar generators and communications equipment while advising an undercover FBI source posing as a Houthi representative.
Prosecutors also allege Ellaboudy traveled to Yemen in 2025 using an official passport previously issued to him while he worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ellaboudy faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge at 11 a.m. Oct. 2 in Richland, a DOJ statement said.
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