First American Citizen to Stand Accused of Terrorist Activity: Maldonado

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, a former Houston man who was arrested in Kenya last month, and extradited to Texas where he has been charged teaming with Al-Qaeda to overthrow the Somali government and replace it with an Islamic state.^[1] Maldonado, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi, is the first American citizen to stand accused of terrorist activity in Somalia, where US troops recently conducted strikes on suspected terrorists in the wake of an Islamic insurrection there.^[2]

According to the criminal complaint, Maldonado, a Boston native, traveled from Houston to Africa in November 2005.^[3] A year later, in Somalia, he became a member of the Islamic Courts Union and joined with elements of al-Qaida to attempt the overthrow of the Somali government.^[4] According to Maldonado, he was provided with an AK-47 assault rifle, ammunition, camouflage uniforms, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and combat training in Mogadishu.^[5] He was then taken to the city of Kismaayo, a stronghold for rebel Islamic militias, where he assisted in forcibly interrogating an alleged spy, a flight attendant who was eventually killed.^[6]

"I would be fighting the Somali militia, and that turned into fighting the Ethiopians, and if Americans came, I would fight them, too," Maldonado said to his FBI interrogators.^[7] He also asserted that he had "no problem" with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that he was prepared to become a suicide bomber if he was wounded or unable to fight.^[8]

Maldonado is charged with, among other things, conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction,^[9] he is also charged with knowingly receiving military type training from a terrorist organization.^[10]

To be guilty of use of weapons of mass destruction by a national of the United States, outside of the United States a person must first be a national of the U.S.^[11] Then the person, without lawful authority, must use, or threaten, attempt, or conspire to use, a weapon of mass destruction outside of the United States.^[12] The punishment for this offense shall be imprisonment for any term of years or for life, and if a death results, shall be punished by death, or by imprisonment for any term of years or for life.^[13]

To be guilty of receiving military training from a terrorist organization, one must knowingly receive military-type training from or on behalf of any organization designated at the time of the training by the Secretary of State under section 219(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as a foreign terrorist organization.^[14] The person must have knowledge that the organization is a designated terrorist organization, that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorist, or that the organization has engaged or engages in terrorism.^[15] A person found guilty under this law shall be fined or imprisoned for ten years, or both.

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^[1] Joe Stinebaker, Ex-Texan Charged With Aiding Terrorists, AP (via ABC News), February 13, 2007.
^[2] Raja Mishra, Mass. Native Held in Terror Case, Boston Globe, February 14, 2007.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Stinebaker, supra note 1.
^[5] Mishra, supra note 2.
^[6] Stinebaker, supra note 1.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] 18 U.S.C §2332a(B) (2006); the definition of destructive device is found in 18 U.S.C. §921(a)(4)(a)(1) (2006).
^[10]18 U.S.C. §2339D (2006).
^[11] 18 U.S.C §2332a(B).
^[12] Id.
^[13] Id.
^[14] 18 U.S.C. §2339D
^[15] The definitionfor these offenses can be found in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989, Id.