Lodi Terrorism Trial—Conviction

Late yesterday afternoon, the jury deliberating on Hamid Hayat returned guilty verdicts on one charge of material support for terrorism and three counts of false statements.^[1] As we are beginning to see with a number of indictments, such as the one against Ehsanul Islam Sadequee and Syed Haris Ahmed, or against Oussama Kassir, prosecutors are bringing charges against individuals even though there is little or no evidence “that [terrorist] attacks are imminent or planned.”^[2]

Mr. Hayat’s conviction is only one of a handful of successes for the DOJ.^[3] The recent trial of Sami Al-Arian famously ended in a mistrial even though the defense rested without putting on a case; he recently pleaded guilty to “conspiring to help people associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad and covering up his knowledge of the PIJ association by lying to [freelance writer Jim] Harper and others. He also admit[ted] that he had been associated with PIJ during ‘the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s.’”^[4] PIJ was declared a “specially designated terrorist” organization by President Clinton in January 1995.^[5] Mr. Al-Arian has already spent 3 years in prison, and it is likely that he will be deported after serving several more, which will be determined on May 1.

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[1] Don Thompson, Jury Convicts Calif. Man in Terrorism Case, Associated Press (via San Francisco Examiner), Apr. 26, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Richard B. Schmitt, Lodi Man Convicted of Helping Terrorists, LA Times (via San Jose Mercury News), Apr. 26, 2006.
[4] Meg Laughlin, In His Plea Deal, What Did Sami Al-Arian Admit To? St. Petersburg Times, Apr. 22, 2006.
[5] Id. See also, Exec. Order No. 12,497 (Jan. 24, 1995).