February 9, 2007
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://houston.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/ho020907b.htm
RONALD GRECULA SENTENCED TO PRISON IN PLOT TO SELL BOMB TO TERRORISTS
(HOUSTON) Ronald Allen Grecula, 70, a resident of Bangor, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to five (5) years in federal prison, without parole, for attempting to provide material support and resources to Al-Qaeda, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
The prison term was imposed by United States District Judge Keith Ellison at a hearing held this afternoon. Grecula pled guilty on September 21, 2006 to attempting to build and offering to sell an explosive device to an undercover officer, whom he thought was a member of al Qaeda.
According to pleadings filed in this case, in April 2005, through approximately May 20, 2005, Ronald Allen GRECULA negotiated with a confidential source, and later undercover officers, to build and sell an explosive device to terrorists groups targeting the United States.
On May 20, 2005, upon arriving in Houston, Texas, GRECULA attended a meeting with the undercover agents at AmeriSuites Hotel, 300 Ronan Park Place, Houston, Texas. In an approximately one-hour long videotaped meeting, GRECULA indicated that he was willing to build and sell an explosive device to a group he believed was affiliated with al Qaeda to be used against Americans.
Following his release from federal prison, the court has ordered Grecula to serve a three (3) year period of supervised release. Grecula has been in federal custody without bond since his arrest in May 2005.
The investigation leading to the charges in this case was conducted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeff Vaden and Mark McIntyre.
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1784280/posts
Former Houston man charged with aiding terrorists
Houston Chronicle ^ | ap
Posted on 02/13/2007 3:32:58 PM PST by mdittmar
A former Houston man arrested in Kenya last month was ordered held without bond today on charges that he was joining with al-Qaida to help overthrow the Somali government and form an Islamic state there.
Federal officials charged Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi, with undergoing military training with a terrorist organization and conspiring to use a destructive device.
Maldonado was returned to the U.S. on Monday night and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley this afternoon, the U.S. Attorney's office in Houston said. He was ordered held without bond until a detention hearing next week.
Maldonado's arrest marks the first criminal prosecution of an American suspected of joining terrorists in Somalia, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a statement.
According to the criminal complaint, Maldonado traveled from Houston to Africa in November 2005. By December 2006, the complaint says, he was in Somalia and had joined with the Islamic Courts Union and elements of al-Qaida to fight in a rebellion designed to overthrow the Somalian government and install an Islamic state.
The complaint says Maldonado was issued an AK-47 rifle and attended two military training camps at which members of al-Qaida were present.
Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military on Jan. 21 as he fled Ethiopian and Somalian forces. He was expelled by Kenya and turned over to U.S. officials for his return to Houston.