Posted on 06/19/2006 7:53:05 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
A federal judge on Monday rejected a request to dismiss some of the counts against a Lodi man convicted of supporting terrorists, leaving in place the possible maximum prison sentence of 39 years.
Hamid Hayat, 23, was convicted in April of one count of providing material support to terrorists by attending an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan and three counts of lying about it to FBI agents.
His attorney, Wazhma Mojaddidi, argued that federal prosecutors were piling on potential prison time by charging three versions of the same lying offense. Each count brings up to eight years in federal prison, while the material support charge carries a potential 15-year sentence.
U.S. District Court Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. ruled the three lying charges are different enough to merit the separate convictions.
The first says Hayat lied during a June 3, 2005, conversation with an FBI agent at his home when he claimed that "he never attended a jihadist training camp."
The second and third counts were for statements made the next day during an interrogation at FBI headquarters in Sacramento. Hayat told agents he "never received weapons or other types of jihadist training" and that he "never received training to fight against the United States."
The circumstances of the two interviews were significantly different, Burrell ruled. He said the second and third counts were different because the FBI needed to learn whether Hayat planned to attack the U.S.
Prosecutors said Hayat returned from a two-year visit to Pakistan in May 2005 intent on attacking targets that may have included hospitals, banks and grocery stores. His videotaped confession was the heart of the government's case.
"He impaired the ability of the FBI to specifically identify a potential terrorist threat," Burrell said in his 11-page ruling.
Mojaddidi said she and her client were "obviously disappointed. It's just going to be another issue to add on to our motion for a new trial."
A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Nov. 17. No sentencing date has been set.
YA-HOO!!!
Jerk us around , we"ll jerk you back!
His dad walked though, right?
Good!
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