bobdina
08-18-2009, 11:16 AM
70 months in prison for terror plot defendant
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 18, 2009 9:25:44 EDT
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A man who helped a prison-based Islamic militant group to plot against the U.S. government and targeted some military facilities was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison, prosecutors said.
Hammad Samana was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, said U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Samana was the last of the four members of the group, Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, to be sentenced, and was a “lesser character” in the plot to target Israel supporters, Mrozek said.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Samana researched targets and prepared a document called “Modes of Attack” that listed targets such as Los Angeles International Airport, Army recruiting stations, a military base and other targets.
Synagogues and the Israeli Consulate also were to be targeted by remotely activated bombs.
Prosecutors said that in 1997, Kevin James founded JIS while serving time in California’s Folsom prison.
In 2004, he recruited a fellow prisoner, Levar Washington, 30, of Torrance, who upon his parole recruited two other men, Gregory Patterson and Samana of Inglewood.
Washington and Patterson later robbed 11 gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties in May and July 2005 to raise money for planned attacks, prosecutors said. Documents were later found in their South Los Angeles apartment that discussed terrorist attacks, authorities said.
They included a statement authored by James that was to be given to the media after an attack that warned “since Muslims” to avoid “Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of an Israeli state,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
None of the planned attacks took place.
Washington was sentenced in 2007 to 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to levy war against the United States and using a firearm to further a crime of violence. Last year, he was sentenced to an additional 22 years in state prison on state charges of robbing a gas station.
Patterson, a former California State University, Northridge, student, was sentenced last year to 12 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charges.
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 18, 2009 9:25:44 EDT
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A man who helped a prison-based Islamic militant group to plot against the U.S. government and targeted some military facilities was sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison, prosecutors said.
Hammad Samana was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, said U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Thom Mrozek.
Samana was the last of the four members of the group, Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS, to be sentenced, and was a “lesser character” in the plot to target Israel supporters, Mrozek said.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Samana researched targets and prepared a document called “Modes of Attack” that listed targets such as Los Angeles International Airport, Army recruiting stations, a military base and other targets.
Synagogues and the Israeli Consulate also were to be targeted by remotely activated bombs.
Prosecutors said that in 1997, Kevin James founded JIS while serving time in California’s Folsom prison.
In 2004, he recruited a fellow prisoner, Levar Washington, 30, of Torrance, who upon his parole recruited two other men, Gregory Patterson and Samana of Inglewood.
Washington and Patterson later robbed 11 gas stations in Los Angeles and Orange counties in May and July 2005 to raise money for planned attacks, prosecutors said. Documents were later found in their South Los Angeles apartment that discussed terrorist attacks, authorities said.
They included a statement authored by James that was to be given to the media after an attack that warned “since Muslims” to avoid “Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of an Israeli state,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
None of the planned attacks took place.
Washington was sentenced in 2007 to 22 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to levy war against the United States and using a firearm to further a crime of violence. Last year, he was sentenced to an additional 22 years in state prison on state charges of robbing a gas station.
Patterson, a former California State University, Northridge, student, was sentenced last year to 12 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to the same charges.