Maldonado Pleads Guilty: Update

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, who trained to fight jihad along with elements of al Qaeda to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, has been convicted of receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization.^[1] At a hearing on April 19, Maldonado pleaded guilty charges against him; we have previously discussed these charges here. Maldonado admitted he had traveled from Houston to Africa in November 2005 and then on to Somalia in December 2006.^[2] There he joined the Islamic Courts Union and elements of Al Qaeda in a ''jihad'' against the Transitional Federal Government to establish an independent Islamic State in Somalia.^[3]

This is the first conviction involving an American “who joined forces with Islamic extremist fighters in Somalia and should serve notice to others who would travel overseas to wage violent jihad,'' said Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.^[4]

Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military on Jan. 21, 2007 as he fled into Kenya to avoid Ethiopian and Somalian forces; expelled by Kenyan officials, Maldonado was turned over to American authorities in February 2007.^[5]

U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller, who presided over today's hearing and convicted Maldonado, has set sentencing for June 29, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.^[6] A conviction for receiving training from a foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison, without parole, and a $250,000 fine.^[7]

We have previously discussed Maldonado, here.

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^[1] U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Press Release, U.S. Citizen Pleads Guilty to Training to Fight Jihad, PRNewswire-USNewswire, April 19, 2007, available at http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-19-2007/0004569754&EDATE=d (last visited Apr. 20, 2007).
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.