Three Sentenced for Conspiring to Commit Terrorist Acts Against Americans
Overseas
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three Ohio residents, Mohammad
Zaki Amawi, 29, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, 46, and Wassim I. Mazloum, 28, have
been sentenced to prison terms ranging from more than 8 years to 20 years for
conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas, including U.S.
military personnel in Iraq, and other terrorism-related violations.
The sentences, which were handed down yesterday by U.S. District Court Chief
Judge James G. Carr in the Northern District of Ohio, were announced by David
Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Stephen M. Dettelbach,
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio; and C. Frank Figliuzzi,
Special Agent in Charge, Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI).
Judge Carr sentenced Amawi to a term of 20 years incarceration followed by
life on supervised release. El-Hindi was sentenced to a term of 13 years
incarceration, including 12 years for the terror violations and 18 months for
a separate fraud conviction. Mazloum received a sentence of 100 months or 8.3
years incarceration followed by life on supervised release.
In February 2007, Amawi, El-Hindi, and Mazloum were charged in a superseding
indictment with conspiring to kill or maim persons outside the United States,
including U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq, and conspiring to provide
material support to terrorists. Amawi and El-Hindi were also charged
individually with distributing information regarding the manufacture or use of
explosives, including suicide bomb vests and Improvised Explosive Devices
(IEDs).
On June 13, 2008, a jury convicted the defendants on all counts. Amawi, a
citizen of Jordan and the United States, and El Hindi, a naturalized U.S.
citizen born in Jordan, were each convicted of one count of conspiring to kill
or maim persons outside the United States, one count of conspiring to provide
material support to terrorists, and two counts of distributing information on
explosives. Mazloum, a U.S. legal permanent resident from Lebanon, was
convicted of one count of conspiring to kill or maim persons outside the
United States and one count of conspiring to provide material support to
terrorists. The convictions represented the nation's first successful trial
of a "homegrown terror cell" for terrorism related crimes.
At trial, the government proved that all three defendants engaged in a
conspiracy, beginning sometime prior to June 2004, to kill or maim persons
outside the United States, including U.S. armed forces personnel in Iraq. As
part of the conspiracy, the defendants conducted firearms training and
accessed and copied instructions in the construction and use of explosives --
including IEDs and suicide bomb vests. In addition, the defendants conspired
to recruit others to participate in jihad training; researched and solicited
funding sources for such training; and proposed sites for training in
firearms, explosives and hand-to-hand combat to prospective recruits.
The government also proved that all defendants conspired to provide material
support and resources, including personnel, money, explosives and laptop
computers, to terrorists, including a co-conspirator in the Middle East, who
had requested such materials for use against U.S. and coalition forces in
Iraq. For example, among other activities, Amawi communicated with a contact
in the Middle East on chemical explosives and traveled to Jordan in August
2005 with laptop computers intended for delivery to mujahideen "brothers."
The government also proved that Amawi knowingly distributed a guide describing
the step-by-step process for manufacturing chemical explosive compounds, as
well as a video entitled, "Martyrdom Operation Vest Preparation," which
described the step-by-step construction and use of a suicide bomb vest. Amawi
distributed these materials with the intent that they be used for training
others to commit a crime of violence, including the killing of U.S. nationals
overseas.
The government further proved that El-Hindi knowingly distributed a slide show
demonstrating the preparation and use of IEDs against apparent U.S. military
vehicles and personnel, as well as the video entitled "Martyrdom Operation
Vest Preparation." El-Hindi distributed these materials with the intent that
they be used for training others to commit a crime of violence, including the
killing of U.S. nationals overseas.
Assistant Attorney General Kris, U.S. Attorney Dettelbach and Special Agent in
Charge Figliuzzi thanked the many different agencies that worked on this case.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force
in Toledo, Ohio, with support from the FBI in Chicago, and with the assistance
of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S.
Secret Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Drug Enforcement
Administration; the Ohio Highway Patrol; the Toledo Police Department; and the
Lucas and Wood County Sheriff's Departments.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas E. Getz and Justin
E. Herdman of the National Security Unit of the U.S Attorney's Office in
Cleveland, as well Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregg N. Sofer of the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Austin, Texas, and Assistant U.S. Attorney David I.
Miller of the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, (both formerly of the
Justice Department's Counterterrorism Section) and Trial Attorney Jerome J.
Teresinski of the Justice Department's Counterterrorism Section. The U.S.
Attorney's office in Detroit also provided assistance in this case.
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD
+1-202-514-1888
