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Home Front: WoT
Man sentenced in plot against terror witnesses
2013-05-11
Hysen Sherifi
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Home Front: WoT
Feds rest case against NC man in terror case
2012-11-08
RALEIGH -- Jurors in a murder-for-hire trial against Hysen Sherifi saw gruesome pictures of a victim in a shallow grave and another with his head cut off Wednesday.

However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
 the pictures were fakes which FBI agents created after one of the men convicted in the Triangle Terror case allegedly approached an informant.

The pictures were apparently real enough to convince Hysen Sherifi that the "hit" had gone down as planned.

Wednesday afternoon he sat in a federal courtroom and listened as his brother testified against him.

Shkumbin Sherifi told jurors he, at first, didn't want any part of a murder for hire plot. He said his brother convinced him that three men who helped convict Hysen of terrorism should be killed to save their family's honor.

Shkumbin Sherifi has pleaded guilty to conspiracy along with Nevine Aly Elshiekh, who was then a teacher at a private school in Cary.

She also testified Wednesday afternoon. Her attorney said she was seduced and conned by Hysen Sherifi.

Sherifi is serving 45 years in prison after he was convicted last year in a terror plot that aimed to kill U.S. troops.
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Home Front: WoT
Feds: US Terrorist Took Out Murder Contract on Witnesses
2012-01-26
A man already convicted of taking part in a terror plot to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia has now been accused of plotting the beheading of key witnesses against him and his coconspirators.
I'm guessing he's not feeling very repentant yet.
According to a criminal complaint unsealed this week, Hysen Sherifi tried to arrange for the witnesses to be murdered for $5,000 apiece by a hitman named "Treetop," but the go-betweens in the murder-for-hire scheme were actually federal informants.
Did I mention that he wanted pictures of their beheaded corpses and severed heads with the faces showing so he could make sure he got what he paid for?
Hysen Sherifi was convicted of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to murder U.S. military personnel and firearms charges in October 11 for his role in the foiled Quantico plot. Three other men in his North Carolina-based terror cell pled guilty to terrorism charges in 2011, and three more defendants were found guilty at trial. Another defendant still awaits trial, while an eighth suspect remains at large.

Sherifi, 27, was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison on January 13. In an FBI affidavit unsealed this week, however, authorities claim that prior to Sherifi's sentencing he tried to take out a murder contract on key witnesses against him.

According to the affidavit, Sherifi confided in an informant that he wanted to kill three witnesses who testified against him and a prisoner he believed had stolen from him.
Man, that's just crazy.
"[The Informant] contacted the FBI to advise that Hysen Sherifi had confided in him and requested his/her assistance for the purpose of hiring someone to kill several individuals. Three of the intended victims are witnesses who testified against him at his federal trial."
Not to be too cynical, but what did the informant receive in return for his information?
The affidavit alleges that Sherifi showed his brother's girlfriend, Nevine Aly Elshiekh, notes that he wanted passed on to another individual who was also an informant in the case.

Elshiekh allegedly passed the information on to the second informant, who claimed to be in contact with a hitman known only as "Treetop." During a January 2, 2012 meeting the second informant allegedly showed Elshiekh a picture of one of the targets and the two discussed a $5,000 payment for the killings. "I got the picture from Treetop," the informant allegedly told Elshiekh, "and Treetop wants to make sure it's the right person to be killed."

On Jan. 8, 2012, Sherifi's brother Shkumbin Sherifi visited his brother at the New Hanover County jail. Two hours later, Shkumbin allegedly arranged a call with the second informant to meet him and get money to him. The court papers note that Shkumbin Sherifi allegedly brought the informant $4,250.

During the meeting the informant allegedly asked Shkumbin Sherifi, "You need to ask [Hysen] Sherifi which one he want [sic] killed. The black guy or Arab."

Shkumbin allegedly told the informant 'Okay, um does he, um, are you guys in touch?"

The court documents note that Shkumbin "claimed not to know what was going on but promised to speak with his brother and get a response."

Shkumbin Sherifi and Elshiekh are charged in the alleged murder-for-hire plot and are scheduled to have a detention hearing in Wilmington, N.C., on Friday. Hysen Sherifi has not yet been charged. The brothers are natives of Kosovo and emigrated with their family to the U.S. in the 1990s.
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Home Front: WoT
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.
Their names, you'll be surprised to read, are not 'Nate', 'Ned' and 'Norman', but rather...
Hysen Sherifi, 27, will serve 45 years in prison; Ziyad Yaghi, 23, got nearly 32 years; and Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 24, was sentenced to 15 years. They faced the possibility of life in prison. Each said they would appeal their convictions and claimed innocence.

Dozens of members of Raleigh’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.
Yeah yeah, they were railroaded, all just because they were discussing how to murder infidels rather than being caught in the act...
Defense attorneys argued for lesser sentences since the men were convicted of discussing terrorism rather than committing terrorist acts.

“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.
I'll bet that set off an alarm at the NSA...
“You willingly became part of the Internet propaganda machine that is a canker on this world,” Flanagan said. “You were prey, and a component, of something that was incredibly harmful and destructive.”

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.
Only the ones who plan to murder Americans...
“You’re prosecuting Islam. The judge should be sitting here with the government,” Aly Hassan said, pointing to the prosecutors.

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.
We'll warm up a drone for him...
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Home Front: WoT
Three convicted in NC terror trial
2011-10-14
A federal jury has convicted three North Carolina Muslims of plotting to attack unspecified targets overseas, as well as the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., in what prosecutors called a case of "homegrown terrorism."

Omar Aly Hassan, 22, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, and Hysen Sherifi, 24, were convicted Thursday of providing material support for terrorists. Yaghi and Sherifi were also convicted of conspiring to kill, kidnap or maim unspecified people overseas; Hassan was acquitted on the conspiracy charge.

Prosecutors in the trial said the men traveled overseas, raised money and trained with weapons in the service of a jihadist plot to kill perceived enemies of Islam. Defense lawyers said evidence presented in court did not show the defendants discussing or agreeing to any specific attack.

The government collected 750 hours of audio and video that included conversations between the defendants and three paid FBI informants; in those conversations, the defendants discussed jihad and their hatred for non-Muslims.

Friends and family members who attended the trial said there was selective prosecution of Muslims. Hassan's father, Aly Hassan, said that the trial had been "a long nightmare."

"Every single witness came out and said they never conspired with my son," Hassan said. "Conspiracy is a very elastic word."

Outside the courtroom, Sherifi's mother shouted, "Racist vultures!"

Mauri Saalakhan, director of an Islamic organization called the Peace Thru Justice Foundation, said the convicted men were victims of guilt by association. He called the undercover informants "provocateurs" who entrapped them.

Eight men were indicted in the case in 2009. Their accused leader, U.S.-born Daniel Boyd, a Muslim convert, testified for the government in a plea deal. So did his sons, Daniel Boyd, 24, and Zakariya Boyd, 21. They are to be sentenced later. A trial for the seventh defendant, Anes Subasic, has not been scheduled. The eighth defendant, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is a fugitive.

Prosecutors named no specific places, times or dates for attacks, except for a potential attack on the Marine base in Quantico. The elder Daniel Boyd had visited the base, and he and Sherifi had discussed its vulnerability to an attack on Marines and their families. Sherifi was also convicted of conspiring to kill members of the U.S. military and weapons violations.

In court, prosecutors displayed a stockpile of almost two dozen guns and 27,000 rounds of ammunition taken from a bunker under Daniel Boyd's home; they also played tapes of the defendants praising jihadist publications.

Defense lawyers said the defendants were foolish young men who made "stupid'' and offensive comments but did not commit any crimes.

Hassan and Yaghi are U.S. citizens. Sherifi, a Kosovo native, is a legal permanent U.S. resident. Sentencing is scheduled to take place in 90 days.
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Home Front: WoT
Dupe URL: FBI informant says Triangle terrorist cell leader intent on jihad
2011-09-23
An FBI informant testified Wednesday that the man accused of heading up a terrorist cell in the Triangle routinely spoke about waging a holy war.

The informant, a Muslim of Moroccan descent who goes by the code name "Jawbreaker," told a federal jury in New Bern that he got so close to Daniel Patrick Boyd that he was with him at the time of his arrest in July 2009.

Boyd pleaded guilty in February to charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons in a foreign country. He is expected to be a key witness in the trial of three other men charged in the case.

Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, Ziyad Yaghi and Hysen Sherifi face multiple felony charges related to allegations they conspired to attack targets overseas. Sherifi also is accused of plotting an attack on the Marine base in Quantico, Va.

A federal indictment unsealed in 2009 alleges that eight Triangle men raised money to buy assault weapons and conduct training exercises and that they arranged overseas travel and contacts to help others carry out violent acts on behalf of a radical jihadist political agenda.

In audio recordings of conversations between Boyd and Jawbreaker that were played in court, Boyd talked about his intentions to attack Quantico. He spoke of how easy it would be to get on the base because it's also a city.

"I did some preliminary reconnaissance, and what I saw was amazing. I saw the residences of all their commanding officers," Boyd said in one recording, adding that Sherifi was in on the plan.

Jawbreaker said Boyd was intensely loyal to Afghanistan, where he traveled in 1989 to join the fight against Soviet occupation. Boyd always wanted to fight non-Muslims, the informant said.

"Every single day, it was about jihad and fighting," Jawbreaker testified.

An FBI search of Boyd's Willow Spring home in 2009 turned up about two dozen guns and more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition.
Takes a chunk of money to stockpile that much, even if you're a regular at CheaperThanDirt.com .

Boyd's biological father was a Marine Captain. Parents divorced, mom remarried a Muslim lawyer in DC, kid converted at age 17. High school girlfriend converted right before the wedding ceremony. Moved to Peshawar in 1989. Joined the Mujahadeen in Afghan to fight the infidel Soviets. Came home, started a store/worship room and began planning his next jihad adventure.
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Home Front: WoT
NC town braces for terror trial
2010-08-03
The federal trial of seven alleged terrorists could be held in U.S. District Court on Middle Street in New Bern next year. A tentative trial date had been set for next month in New Bern, but the case was continued because thousands of pages of Arabic documents had to be translated, according to district court officials.

A U.S. District Court spokeswoman, Robin Zier, told the Sun Journal that the trial could be held sometime next year, but no court has been designated. “It could be held in U.S. District Court in New Bern or Raleigh. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flannigan is assigned the case,” she said.

Facing charges are:
Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, the suspected ringleader of the group.
Hysen Sherifi, 24, a Kosovan immigrant who legally relocated to the Raleigh area.
Anes Subasic, 33.
Zakariya Boyd, 20.
Dylan Boyd, 22.
Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22.
Ziyad Yaghi, 21.
All are U.S. citizens except for Sherifi. They all face life sentences if theyre convicted of the charges of conspiracy to take part in a terrorist plot. The men were indicted July 2009 and for conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.

Daniel Patrick Boyd of Johnston County went under the alias of Saifullah. The indictment said Boyd trained in Afghanistan from 1989-1992 and fought in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.

According to David Kris, an assistant attorney with the U.S. Justice Department,“Daniel Patrick Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, who over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill. Boyd received military-style training for the purpose of engaging in terrorist training for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad.” The indictment also says that Boyd and several of the accused traveled to Israel in June 1997 to engage in “violent jihad” but subsequently returned to the U.S. after failing in their efforts.

Across the street from the federal courthouse in New Bern is Centenary Methodist Church, which also has a day care facility. The senior pastor of the church, the Rev. Susan Pate Greenwood, said no notices had been sent to parents of day care students because no notification of a trial date has been made. “There had been rumors, but no official notification from federal officials had been made with church officials,” Greenwood said. Greenwood said if the trial is held in New Bern next year, notifications would be sent out to parents. “We have no hard evidence of such a trial, but will be in contact with federal officials,” she said.
Link


Terror Networks
Kosovo man charged with supporting N.C. terror suspects
2010-06-18
A man arrested in Kosovo is linked to the eight Triangle-area men suspected of plotting terrorist attacks, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Bajram Asllani, 29, an ethnic Albanian and native of Mitrovico, Kosovo, was convicted of terrorism in Serbia but had been living out in his home country when he was arrested Thursday following an extradition request from the United States, police said. He faces charges of providing material support to terrorists and conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim or injure persons.

An April 19 criminal complaint unsealed Thursday alleges that Asllani conspired with eight men charged last July with plotting a series of terrorist attacks overseas and securing weapons and training in North Carolina.

Seven suspects – Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, his sons, Dylan Boyd, 22, and Zakariya "Zak" Boyd, 20, and Hysen Sherifi, 24, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, and Anes Subasic, 33 – are being held in the U.S. An eighth suspect, Jude Kenan Mohammad, 20, is believed to be in Pakistan.

The criminal complaint alleges that Asllani was in contact with the other suspects, solicited money for them and helped them travel with the purpose of establishing "a base of operations in Kosovo for the purpose of waging violent jihad."

Sherifi became acquainted with Asllani during a July 2008 trip to Pristinia, Kosovo, court documents say. The documents say that Asllani directed Sherifi to return to the U.S. and collect money to establish a community in Kosovo, which would be used to store weapons and ammunition and as a base to launch attacks in Kosovo and other countries.

Sherifi returned to the U.S. in April 2009 and collected $15,000 but was arrested before he could return to Kosovo, documents say. Sherifi is also accused of giving Asllani money for travel documents.

The court documents say that Daniel Boyd said he wanted to go, along with his sons, to Kosovo. The sons and Sherifi allegedly talked with Asllani online.

U.S. authorities said that Asllani was placed under house arrest by Kosovo law enforcement in 2007. In September 2009, a Serbian court convicted him in abstentia on terror-related charges and sentenced him to eight years in prison.

Kosovo police said the arrest and a search of Asllani's home were authorized by a judge with the European Union's Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, known as EULEX. Police spokesman Baki Kelani said they only had executed the arrest warrant, and everything else was handled at the diplomatic level between both countries and EULEX.
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Home Front: WoT
Suspects in Quantico terror plot appear in court
2010-04-17
The seven Triangle area men charged with plotting terrorism attacks were back at the federal courthouse in Raleigh Friday morning.

Daniel Boyd, his sons, Dylan and Zakariya, and four other suspects - Anes Subasic, Hysen Sherifi, Mohammad Hassan and Ziyad Yaghi -- are all charged with plotting to attack the Marine base at Quantico and wage Islamic jihad abroad. Authorities say their operation was being run from a home in Johnston County.

Friday's hearing was about the massive amount of evidence lawyers need to go through before the case can go to trial. "We estimate that 29,000 pages of paper, 750 hours of audio and videotape and 24 computers," defense attorney Dan Boyce said. "So it's a daunting task, to say the least."

The FBI has said that it seized some two dozen weapons from the Boyd household and that a pit had been dug under their back deck to be used to store the guns. They also seized more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition, along with $14,000 in cash.

In an interview with agents, Dylan Boyd claimed that the U.S. Army was overseas raping and killing "their" Muslim sisters and repeatedly called the FBI agents questioning him "kuffar" -meaning nonbelievers. He also said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were an "inside job."

The seven men are scheduled to go on trial in Raleigh in September.
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Home Front: WoT
US judge refuses bail plea for alleged jihadists
2009-08-07
A federal judge ordered six North Carolina men accused of plotting holy war to remain in custody on Wednesday but raised scathing questions about the strength of the case federal prosecutors are pushing.

US Magistrate Judge William Webb determined that the defendants were dangerous and may flee if released, noting they had overseas contacts, some past criminal activity and the threat of a life sentence if convicted on the terrorism charges they face.

'Each of these defendants constitute a danger to the community,' Webb said, dealing a blow to some supporters who had hoped some of the men might be released to a family custodian.

While his assessment of the suspects was harsh, the judge also expressed concern about the veracity of the government's case. In presenting evidence, authorities had relied heavily on secret audio recordings and the statements of an unnamed witness.

As prosecutors made their final argument for why the men should remain in custody, Webb lashed out at the government's witness. 'Why is it you believe we should consider the witness as being credible?' he asked.

The prosecutor, Jason Kellhofer, at first argued that there was no reason to consider the witness not credible.

But Webb pressed on. He pointed out the prosecutor's argument that the suspects were sometimes talking in code, with Hysen Sherifi once talking about 'going to the beach.' Prosecutors argued that the 'beach' really meant violent jihad.

Webb balked at the idea that he was supposed to consider 'beach' as the 'functional equivalent of jihad' without knowing why the witness was credible.

The judge's concerns weren't enough to allow any of the men to go free until trial, despite promises from some family members that they could take care of the suspects outside of prison and the arguments from attorneys that the men had strong ties to the community.

The father of Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan said he was disappointed by the decision. 'All the family is disappointed,' Aly Hassan said.

As US marshals led the men away following Webb's ruling, the suspects said in Arabic the same phrase they had uttered in court a day earlier: 'May peace be upon you.'

'May peace be upon you, also,' many audience members murmured in response. Sabrina Boyd, the wife of primary suspect Daniel Boyd, expressed disappointment in a wavering voice. Two of her sons, 20-year-old Zakariya and 22-year-old Dylan, have also been indicted.

'I just want to say that we appreciate the support of the whole community and that we love our families very much,' she said outside the courtroom, shortly after her husband and two children were led away in shackles. 'We're just trying to be patient.'

On the first day of the detention hearing Tuesday, federal authorities played audio tapes of a man they identified as Boyd saying 'I love jihad' and talking about the struggle of Muslims, the honour of martyrdom and his disgust at the US military.

Court records indicate that a seventh suspect, Anes Subasic, 33, was to get a new attorney and a new interpreter, so his detention hearing was delayed until Monday. An eighth man, Jude Kenan Mohammad, is still at large and authorities said Tuesday they last heard he was in Pakistan.
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Home Front: WoT
7 in North Carolina charged with supporting terrorism
2009-07-28
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal authorities have charged seven men in North Carolina with supporting terrorism and conspiracy to commit murder abroad, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Officials said one of the men, identified as North Carolina resident and U.S. native Daniel Patrick Boyd, had traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained in terrorist camps to carry out "violent jihad."

Boyd, 39, who went by the name Saifullah, was charged along with two of his sons: Dylan Boyd, 22, also known as Mohammed, and Zakariya Boyd, 20.

The four others also are residents of North Carolina, and all seven are accused of engaging in weapons training and military tactics in their home state, the Justice Department said. "We consider this significant. We've been watching them for some time, and we think they were dangerous," said a federal law enforcement official who asked not to be identified.

The Boyd family and defendant Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan are identified as U.S.-born citizens. Defendant Hysen Sherifi is identified as a native of Kosovo who is a legal permanent resident of the United States, and Hiyad Yaghi and Anes Subasic are said to be naturalized U.S. citizens. Officials did not immediately identify their native countries.
So...I wonder which one's the informant?
Eenie .. meenie .. meinie .. ... ... Mo?
The indictment, made public by the Justice Department, says Daniel Boyd and others left the United States for Israel in June 2007 to "engage in violent jihad but ultimately returned to the United States after failing in their efforts."
Find out the Joooos play for keeps, did ya?
The defendants, with a substantial cache of weapons, had "practiced military tactics and use of weapons on private property in Caswell County, North Carolina, in June and July 2009," the indictment says. The documents make no reference to a direct threat to individuals or property in the United States.

In a written statement, the Justice Department's top counterterrorism official, David Kris, said that Daniel Boyd, "a veteran of terrorist training camps" had conspired with others to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill."

The U.S. attorney in Raleigh, George E. B. Holding, said, "These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far-away land, but can grow and fester right here at home."

The defendants made an initial appearance in federal court in North Carolina. Officials said they are expected to return to court Thursday for detention hearings.
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