[aristeides]

To judge by the indictment, the feds (NSA?) or some allied outfit like the UK's GCHQ has been intercepting the phone calls of these guys since the beginning of '94, and turning up highly incriminating evidence as a result. I wonder how many times officials asked their superiors to bring a prosecution and got turned down.

[Catspaw]

From what I was able to understand from Ashcroft & the various talking heads, what enabled the prosecution was the 1996 anti-terrorism law, the Patriot Act AND that the CIA & FBI can exchange information. Without all three, Sami would still be correcting papers.