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U.S. Citizen Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Provide Material Support to Al Qaeda Syed Hashmi, aka “Fahad,” pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, announced Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Hashmi, 30, was arrested on June 6, 2006 at Heathrow Airport in London, shortly before he was to board a flight to Pakistan. He was later extradited to the United States; Hashmi is the first individual to be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States on terrorism charges. According to the superseding indictment...

Note: The following text is a quote: March 10, 2010 Queens MS-13 gang leader sentenced to life in prison for racketeering and murder NEW YORK - The leader of a Queens chapter of the international street gang La Mara Salvatrucha, more commonly known as "MS-13," was sentenced March 10 to life imprisonment for racketeering conspiracy, including the acts of murder and attempted murder; murder in-aid-of-racketeering; and using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Amilcar Gomez, 26, on April 3, 2009, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with...

The former assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio, who prosecutors said took more than $1 million in payments from people and organizations doing business with the state, was sentenced to six years in prison by a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday. For 30 years Mr. Seminerio, a Democrat, cultivated a streetwise persona and the trappings of crude political clout while representing the 38th District in southwest Queens. * * * The judge also chided him for his “refusal to acknowledge the breadth and depth of your criminal conduct.” Mr. Seminerio, 74, is among more than a dozen state lawmakers who have...

A Muslim chaplain for the city’s Department of Correction showed up for work on Wednesday as he routinely does — entering the city jail in Lower Manhattan to minister to some of the roughly 900 male inmates there. But when the chaplain, Imam Zulqarnain Abu-Shahid, flung his shoulder bag onto an X-ray machine at the entrance of the Manhattan Detention Complex, at 125 White Street, officers were alerted to the presence of metal. They found a pair of scissors and three metal blades, the kind used in box cutters, in the bag’s outer flap, the authorities said. Imam Abu-Shahid was...

A Queens man is accused of ripping out a woman's heart and lungs after she turned down his romantic advances and didn't find him a job, according to investigators. After harassing 46-year-old victim Qian Wu for years, 47-year-old suspect Huang Chen is accused of bludgeoning and stabbing her to death and removing her organs, which have not been recovered. Chen, who lives two doors away from Wu's Flushing apartment, met the woman in 2006 when he went to an employment agency she ran out of her home. Apparently, Wu was unable or unwilling to find Chen a job, and the...

Queens, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A botched legal abortion killed a Hispanic woman earlier this week at a shoddy abortion center in Queens, New York. In an interview with a local newspaper, staff at the abortion center were dismissive of the woman's death, prompting outrage from a pro-life group that monitors abortion facilities.  As LifeNews.com has reported, 37-year-old Alexandra Nuñez was killed after a botched abortion claimed her life at the A-1 Women's Care abortion center located in Jackson Heights.Despite the abortion death, staff at the abortion center, who did not return a LifeNews.com phone call seeking comment, told the new...

New York, NY (LifeNews.com) -- A New York woman has apparently died as a result of a failed abortion done at the A-1 Women's Care abortion center located in the Jackson Heights section of Queens. Reports indicate emergency officials responded to an emergency call from the A1 Medicine facility at 95-45 Roosevelt on Monday afternoon. WPIX-TV indicates a woman in her 30s was reportedly undergoing heavy bleeding and was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital Center where she was later pronounced dead.The television station indicates an investigation into the failed abortion is ongoing and that one question officials are examining is whether...

Note: The following text is a quote: Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Three New York Businessmen with Laundering Money Through Iran PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; JOSEPH M. DEMAREST, JR., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"); and PATRICIA J. HAYNES, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS"), Criminal Investigation Division, announced that REZA SAFARHA, a/k/a "Ali," a/k/a "Ali Safarha," NICK MOHAMEY, a/k/a "Abdollah Mohammadipour," a/k/a "Abdi Pour," and MOHAMMAD SOROUSH MAHALATY, a/k/a "Mohammad Soroush," a/k/a...

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/01/new-york-jihadist-crashes-car-screams-we-love-death-more-than-you-love-life.html (NEW YORK POST) “New York jihadist crashes car, screams “We love death more than you love life!”” SNIPPET: “Adis Medunjanin, 25, called 911 as he sped erratically away from federal agents through Queens streets at up to 90 mph. “We love death more than you love life!” he exclaimed in Arabic. Medunjanin also praised Allah moments before he rear-ended another vehicle, sources said. Police are investigating the bizarre crash as a possible suicide attempt by the frantic Medunjanin, in the wake of a federal raid on his Queens home....”

F.B.I. agents on Thursday seized the passport of a Queens man who came under intense scrutiny last year during the investigation of an airport shuttle bus driver who was charged in a Qaeda bomb plot, law enforcement officials and the man’s lawyer said. About an hour later, a bizarre tableau unfolded as the man, Adis Medunjanin, 25, who was under surveillance by the F.B.I., was involved in a traffic accident while driving near the Whitestone Bridge, perhaps flustered by the surveillance or in an attempt to avoid it, one law enforcement official said. He tried to flee the scene, several...

SNIPPET: "It may have been one of the coldest days this season, but that did not deter angry protesters from gathering at the residence of Youssef Al-Khattab, a Jewish convert to Islam who has been tagged as an Al-Qaida sympathizer." SNIPPET: "Sunday’s protest came after Al-Khattab posted comments on his website, revolutionmuslim.com, supporting the Fort Hood attacks and other violent acts of radical Muslims. He also has made several anti-Semitic comments on his site, including saying he wants liquid drain cleaner to be thrown in Jews’ faces, and calling for the outdoor huts some build during the holiday of Sukkot...

High unemployment is spreading in New York City beyond the poorest neighborhoods to once-secure middle-class enclaves, where some residents are falling behind on rent and mortgage payments. Among the hardest-hit spots are the northern Bronx and southeastern Queens. Both areas have seen unemployment double since the third quarter of 2007, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. "The recovery in the labor market is a long way off and it will be a long time coming to middle-income neighborhoods," said James Parrott, the institute's deputy director and chief economist. Close to half of all New Yorkers work...

Democratic State Sen. Hiram Monserrate was found not guilty today of the felony assault after Queens Supreme Court Judge William Erlbaum rendered his verdict after reflecting on the evidence. Monserrate was found guilty of the lesser charge of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in the non-jury trial for dragging his girlfriend down a hallway, an incident that was caught on surveillance cameras. Monserrate, who gets to keep his seat as a result of being acquitted on felony charges, faces up to a year in jail. He will be sentenced Dec. 4.

Investigation Into Alleged NYC Bomb Plot Includes Nearly All of the Bureau's U.S. Field OfficesCriminal Complaint Suggests Cops May Have Tipped-Off Zazi By Questioning New York Imam, Seizing CarThe FBI is expanding its investigation into an alleged terror plot targeting New York City, and nearly every one of the FBI's 57 field offices in the country and several overseas are now in on the case, working along with local police. On Wednesday, the NYPD was showing a new training video in precincts citywide detailing the intelligence from the agencies. Bomb Squad Commander Lt. Marc Torre narrates the video, giving regular...

Investigators probed a failed Queens truck rental for ties to a possible Al Qaeda bomb plot yesterday as a chief terror suspect tried making a deal to save his skin. The truck rental bid failed when none of the men could produce a valid credit card. All refused to surrender the identification needed to pay cash, the manager of the Flushing U-Haul said. A team of FBI agents spent 10 hours Thursday combing through the Queens truck rental business. At least three Afghan men - including Ahmad Afzali, a Queens imam identified by a U-Haul employee as one of the...

"Feds probe alleged terrorists who tried to rent giant truck in suspected Al Qaeda bomb plot" BY JAMES GORDON MEEK IN WASHINGTON, JUDITH CROSSON IN DENVER, KATE NOCERA, ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND LARRY MCSHANE DAILY NEWS WRITERS Saturday, September 19th 2009, 4:00 AM Investigators probed a failed Queens truck rental for ties to a possible Al Qaeda bomb plot yesterday as a chief terror suspect tried making a deal to save his skin. The New York end of the expanding federal probe centered on seven Afghan men who tried to rent the biggest truck at a Queens U-Haul on Sept. 9,...

The Denver shuttle bus driver at the center of a federal terrorism investigation has begun to cooperate with the authorities, admitting that he had perhaps unwittingly crossed paths in Pakistan with extremists allied with Al Qaeda, according to government officials briefed on the case. The officials did not indicate whether the admissions of the man, Najibullah Zazi, made during three days of intense questioning by F.B.I. agents in Denver, clarified whether he had directly engaged in terrorist activity. And it is not known whether his account could mean he will be charged with any wrongdoing. But Mr. Zazi’s discussions with...

Note: Photo included. Contrite St. John's Univ. student behind alleged massacre threats on Facebook says booze to blame BY KERRY BURKE DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, September 17th 2009, 3:34 PM PHOTO CAPTION: "Radames Santiago Jr., 18, a student from St John's, who was arrested for making threats on his Facebook page." SNIPPET: "A St. John's University freshman who posted messages on Facebook threatening to launch a "Virginia Tech attack" at the Queens campus told the Daily News that he was just drunk and never would have caused anyone harm." SNIPPET: "Santiago, who lives in Washington Heights with his mom...

Two New York City apartments were raided following a visit by a suspected al-Qaida operative. No arrests were made and no weapons were found in Monday's raids, according to The New York Times. The man suspected of ties to al-Qaida is of Afghan descent and has been under FBI surveillance. He visited the Queens residences over the weekend and returned to his Midwest home, according to reports. The Times reported that the five men who lived in one of the apartments were all of Afghan descent and came from the same area of Afghanistan. The U.S. Justice Department's Joint Terrorism...

SNIPPET: "The Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) name has come up before in connection with terrorism plots, including the October 2002 Portland Seven and the September 2002 Lackawanna Six cases in the United States, as well as the August 2006 plot to bomb airliners en route from London to the United States, the July 7, 2005, London Underground bombings and the July 2007 attempted bombings in London and Glasgow, Scotland. Over the past several years we also have received several queries about TJ from U.S. law enforcement officials who are concerned about the group’s presence and activities in the United States. U.S....