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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016493.php

May 17, 2007

Man in Houston Taliban case gets 10 months

It was just a weekend shooting trip. Yeah, sure, that’s it. A weekend shooting trip. By Cindy George in the Houston Chronicle, with thanks to Sr. Soph:

Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, one of four Muslim men charged in the so-called Houston Taliban case, was sentenced today to 10 months in prison.
The men were arrested in November and accused of training to join the Taliban’s fight against U.S.-led forces overseas.

Qazi was convicted in January of unlawful possession of a firearm. He waived his right to a jury trial, opting for a decision from U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal. She found him guilty in 15 minutes.

A July 2005 camping trip in Willis, north of Conroe, was part of a government set-up using two informants to nab men who talked of fighting with the terrorist group. FBI agents used Qazi’s acknowledgment that “he overheard statements over that weekend” to connect him to the plot.

Qazi, a Pakistani, appears in photographs with a semi-automatic weapon. At the time, he was attending Houston Community College on a student visa.

While prosecutors contend that federal law prohibits someone who is not a U.S. citizen from possessing a firearm, federal public defender Brent Newton argued that his client was not criminally liable because he didn’t know he could not hold or shoot a gun.

Qazi’s supporters say he simply went on a weekend shooting trip, which is common recreation in Texas.

Posted by Robert at May 17, 2007 01:30 PM

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://houston.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/ho05172007.htm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE:THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007

PAKISTANI STUDENT SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR UNLAWFULLY POSSESSING FIREARM

(HOUSTON) – Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, a Pakistani national in the United States on a student visa, was sentenced to prison today for unlawfully possessing a firearm, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.

Convicted on January 30, 2007 following a stipulated facts bench trial before U. S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, Qazi was sentenced today to serve 10 months in prison. Qazi has been in federal custody since his arrest in late November 2006.

Qazi, a citizen of Pakistan born in Kuwait in 1981, last entered the United States on February 19, 2003, as an F-1 student visa holder. He maintained that status by filing the appropriate certificate of eligibility forms and by maintaining a full class load at the university he was attending. However, a non-immigrant student visa holder is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm. At his brief bench trial, the United States proved that on July 15 through 17, 2005, Qazi went on a weekend camping trip with others in Willis, TX. During the trip, Qazi shot an Armalite M-15, .223 caliber semi automatic rifle during simulated military-style training. Photographs of Qazi at the camp holding the M-15, an operable firearm manufactured in Illinois, were introduced in evidence.

During today’s sentencing hearing Qazi’s attorney asked the Court to sentence Qazi to “time served.”, less than the minimum 10 months incarceration recommended through the application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Judge Rosenthal denied the defendant’s request finding that Qazi’s undisputed participation in military training during the weekend camping trip with others, who were training for a “holy war”, did not merit a downward departure from the applicable guideline range. In addition to the 10-month term of incarceration, the court ordered Qazi to serve a three-year term of supervised release following the completion of his sentence. However, Qazi also faces possible deportation from the United States following his release from incarceration.

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the agency’s Joint Terrorism Task Force with participation by: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Houston Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorneys Shelley J. Hicks and Glenn Cook are prosecuting the case.

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