Pakistani sentenced by US court (closed hearing, sentence not made public)

The Frontier Post from Peshawar Pakistan ^ | 2/17/02 | staff

[LarryLied]

WASHINGTON (Online): US court has sentenced a Pakistani national in a closed hearing for his role in a weapons sting that offered shoulder-launched Stinger missiles and other high-powered armaments.US District Judge Donald Graham closed the hearing, but it could not be learned why and no one would say what sentence Mohammed Rajaa Malik received Friday.

“I can’t tell you the results, sorry,” defense attorney James Eisenberg said after the hearing, during which the courtroom doors were locked.

Malik, 52, and Diaa Mohsen, 58, an Egyptian-born U.S. citizen, pleaded guilty to attempted arms exports in violation of the Arms Export Control Act.

Both are from Jersey City, New Jersey.

The two men allegedly discussed the purchase of missiles, machine guns, grenade launchers and other weapons with undercover agents during a 30-month investigation.

A Stinger missile was brought to one meeting.

---

Man gets 30 months in arms deal

By Jon Burstein Sun-Sentinel Staff Writer
2/14/02

A New Jersey tennis instructor was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison for attempting to illegally export Stinger missiles out of the country.

Diaa Mohsen, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt, was arrested in June in a West Palm Beach warehouse after handling an inactive Stinger missile. Federal authorities said he spent more then two years unsuccessfully negotiating to buy missiles and other military weaponry from a government informant and an undercover agent posing as a rogue arms dealer.

Mohsen, 57, of Jersey City, will serve his sentence concurrently with a 27-month sentence for helping launder $350,000 he thought were the proceeds of illegal arms sales.

Mohammed Malik, 52, of Watchung, N.J., will be sentenced Friday for his role in attempting to send the weapons to a foreign country. Prosecutors have indicated to defense attorneys they think the military hardware was heading to either Pakistan or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mohsen and Malik, a Pakistani-American, never obtained any weapons.

U.S. District Judge Donald Graham gave Mohsen the lightest possible prison term under federal sentencing guidelines at prosecutors' request, said Val Rodriguez, Mohsen's attorney.

Mohsen has been cooperating in other federal investigations and could be back before the judge in a year to ask for his sentence to be reduced, Rodriguez said.

[LarryLied]

Anyone know more? Can sentences not be made public? Or does the Frontier Post have the story wrong?

[McGavin999]

30 MONTHS!! This guys sells stingers that can bring down American planes and this judge gives him 30 MONTHS?????

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Here's a Link to a story that says the same thing.

[Anotherpundit]

Shoot, you'd get more than that for trying to buy an AR in california!

[Amelia]

Very interesting that they are both in New Jersey...and also I presume fairly close to where some people say TWA 800 might have been shot down by a Stinger missle?

[LarryLied]

So AP is carrying this also. Must be for real. Know any freeper lawyers? I've never heard of a sentence being secret before. Seem to recall Jesse Jackson or the DNC being tangled in with these guys too.

[DoctorMichael]

Mohsen has been cooperating in other federal investigations and could be back before the judge in a year to ask for his sentence to be reduced, Rodriguez said.

......turning evidence and contacts over to the court may explain the reduced sentence for 1/2 of our dynamic duo. Sounds like they threw the book at Malik though.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I've heard of details of a trial being held secret for national security reasons (this has been used as a justification of using military tribunals instead of civilian courts), but I haven't heard of a sentence being secret. Weird.

[mikeIII]

Something's not jibing here - closed doors, short sentence ....

[LarryLied]

Prosecutors and the FBI usually make a point of trumpeting their victories too. Especially after 9-11. This hasn't received much attention at all.

[BluesDuke]

I've heard of details of a trial being held secret for national security reasons (this has been used as a justification of using military tribunals instead of civilian courts), but I haven't heard of a sentence being secret. Weird.

Neither have I, and I have reported on court matters in the course of my own working life (I have been a reporter for small daily newspapers). They can close a trial's doors, but I have almost never heard of dummying up - either on the prosecution or the defence side - on sentencing proceedings and details, even if for security reasons the actual hearing had to be held behind closed doors. Something simply does not jibe properly here, from what I can tell.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

What would happen if you made a Freedom of Information Act request to see what the guy's sentence was? We may find out.

[LarryLied]

Seems they would have to give a reason at the very least. Or any judge could keep proceedings secret.

[BluesDuke]

What would happen if you made a Freedom of Information Act request to see what the guy's sentence was? We may find out.

I can't see why that couldn't be done, but I do know that FOIA requests take somewhere not too far from forever to get processed and answered unless you represent a news or public interest organisation. Since I'm not currently employed actively in the news media and don't work for a public interest organisation, that kind of puts me in the not-too-far-from-forever group.

[LarryLied]

Simple solution. Call the ACLU and tell them the Feds are keeping this secret because releasing the information would jeopardize national security. They'll have a team of lawyers at the courthouse within hours.

[LarryLied]

Foreign Intelligence deal...

Think Malik is an agent?