ALEXANDRIA, VA—Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, of Fairfax County, Va., was arrested today on charges that he provided material support to al Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC) of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after Chesser was arrested and the charging documents were made public.

“This case exposes the disturbing reality that extreme radicalization can happen anywhere, including Northern Virginia,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “This young man is accused of seeking to join al Shabaab, a brutal terrorist organization with ties to al Qaeda. These allegations underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats.”

“We can’t fight terrorists alone,” said FBI ADIC Henry. “Religious leaders of all faiths, family members and particularly the younger members of our communities need to speak up and speak out against individuals who participate in actions like those alleged here.”

On Feb. 29, 2008, the U.S. Department of State designated al Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization, describing it as a violent and brutal extremist group based in Somalia with a number of individuals affiliated with al Qaeda. This designation prohibits providing material support or resources to al Shabaab.

According to an affidavit filed in court, Chesser, aka Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, volunteered to federal agents that he attempted on two occasions to travel to Somalia to join al Shabaab as a foreign fighter. After he was prevented from boarding a flight from New York to Uganda on July 10, 2010, Chesser allegedly admitted to agents that he intended to travel from Uganda to Somalia. Chesser had attempted to board the plane with his infant son, and court records allege that he brought his son with him as part of his “cover” to avoid detection of his intention to join al Shabaab in Somalia.

The court affidavit indicates that in a series of interviews with federal law enforcement, Chesser allegedly discussed in detail how he has maintained several online profiles dedicated to extremist jihad propaganda. These profiles were allegedly used by Chesser to post pro-jihad messages and videos online. These postings allegedly included an article detailing the prerequisites involved in leaving for jihad, which closely follows the steps Chesser took before his July 10 attempt to leave the United States in order to go fight in Somalia.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney John T. Gibbs of the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Criminal complaints are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Ian Jacob Wallace, 27, of East Setauket, New York, was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell to serve three years in Federal prison for his role in the November 5, 2001, attempted fire-bombing of U.S. Forest Service property located on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today [March, 27th, 2009].

Wallace, who committed the offense on behalf of the activist environmental group known as the “Earth Liberation Front” or “ELF,” was also ordered to pay over $1.6 million in restitution to the victims of other similar, but successful, acts of arson and property destruction in Western Wisconsin and Minnesota that he participated in between 2000 and 2002.

In targeting Michigan Tech, Wallace and a second ELF adherent, who has since been convicted and sentenced in the District of Oregon, had sought to destroy federally-funded research that was being conducted into genetic modification of plants. Although Wallace could have been sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison, Judge Bell imposed a much lower sentence in recognition of the assistance Wallace provided to the United States in its investigation of other ELF actions; because his actions did not, and were not intended to, physically harm any person; and because he voluntarily abandoned his ELF activities in 2002 and focused on obtaining a doctoral degree.

The case was investigated by the Marquette office of the FBI and the U.S. Forest Service, with assistance from the Michigan State Police, Michigan Technological University Department of Public Safety, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted for the United States by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen W. Frank.

WASHINGTON – Japanese electronics manufacturer Hitachi Displays Ltd., agreed to plead guilty and pay a $31 million fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display panels (TFT-LCD) sold to Dell Inc., the U.S. Department of Justice announced today (March 10, 2009
).

A one-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco charges Hitachi Displays Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., with participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD sold to Dell for use in desktop monitors and notebook computers from April 1, 2001, through March 31, 2004. According to the plea agreement, which is subject to court approval, Hitachi Displays has agreed to cooperate with the Department’s ongoing antitrust investigation.

“Hitachi joins three other multinational companies who have admitted to their involvement in fixing prices for LCD panels sold to U.S. companies and that have already paid criminal fines totaling more than $585 million,” said Scott D. Hammond, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division. “This case should send a strong message to multinational companies operating in the United States that when it comes to enforcing the U.S. antitrust laws we mean business.”

Including today’s filing, four companies and seven individuals have been charged in the Department’s ongoing antitrust investigation into the TFT-LCD industry. To date, more than $585 million in criminal fines have been imposed as a result of this investigation, and four individuals have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to serve jail time.

TFT-LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions, mobile phones and other electronic devices. In 2006, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD panels was approximately $70 billion. Hitachi Displays Ltd., based in Tokyo, Japan, reported $1.75 billion in total revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2008.

Hitachi Displays is charged with carrying out the conspiracy by:

Participating in bilateral meetings, conversations and communications in Japan, Korea and the United States to discuss the prices of TFT-LCD to be sold to Dell;
Agreeing, during those bilateral meetings, conversations and communications, to charge prices of TFT-LCD to be sold to Dell at certain predetermined levels;
Issuing price quotations in accordance with the agreements reached; and
Exchanging information on sales of TFT-LCD sold to Dell, for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices.
This is the fourth plea agreement by a company charged with participating in conspiracies to fix the prices for TFT-LCD. On Dec. 15, 2008, LG Display Co. (LG) pleaded guilty to participating in a worldwide conspiracy to fix the price for TFT-LCD and was sentenced to pay a $400 million criminal fine – the second-largest fine in Antitrust Division history. On Dec. 16, 2008, Sharp Corp. pleaded guilty to participating in three separate conspiracies to fix the prices of TFT-LCD sold to Dell, Apple Computer Inc. and Motorola Inc. and was sentenced to pay a $120 million criminal fine. On Jan. 14, 2009, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (Chunghwa) pleaded guilty to participating in the same worldwide conspiracy as LG, and was sentenced to pay a $65 million criminal fine.

In February 2009, former Chunghwa CEO Chieng-Hon “Frank” Lin and two Chunghwa executives, Chih-Chun “C.C.” Liu and Hsueh-Lung “Brian” Lee, pleaded guilty to and were sentenced for participating in the same conspiracy as LG and Chunghwa. Lin was sentenced to serve nine months in prison and pay a $50,000 criminal fine. Liu was sentenced to serve seven months in prison and pay a $30,000 criminal fine. Lee was sentenced to serve six months in prison and pay a $20,000 criminal fine. Also in February 2009, LG executive Chang Suk “C.S.” Chung pleaded guilty for his role in the same conspiracy as LG and Chunghwa. Chung was sentenced to serve seven months in prison and pay a $25,000 criminal fine.

On Feb. 3, 2009, a federal grand jury in San Francisco returned an indictment charging two former Chunghwa executives, Cheng Yuan Lin, aka C.Y. Lin and Wen Jun Cheng, aka Tony Cheng, and one former executive from LG, Duk Mo Koo, for their participation in the same conspiracy as LG and Chunghwa. Warrants have been issued for the arrest of all three individuals.

Today’s charge is the result of a joint investigation by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Field Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Francisco.

Anyone with information concerning illegal conduct in the TFT-LCD industry is urged to call the San Francisco Field Office of the Antitrust Division at 415-436-6660.

Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena, Detroit Division, issued the following statement:

Special Agent Paul M. Sorce, assigned to the FBI’s Detroit field office, was involved in a serious automobile accident while carrying out his duties today (March 9, 2009). He was taken to St. John’s Hospital in Detroit, where he passed away.

Special Agent Paul M. Sorce

Special Agent Sorce was 44 years old and served the FBI for 18 years. He joined the FBI in May 1991, serving in the Milwaukee Field Office and then transferring to Detroit in June 1995.

We are deeply saddened by Special Agent Sorce’s untimely death, and our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.

PORTLAND, Ore., March 5, 2009 – A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Capt. Michael Dung Nguyen, 28, of Ft. Lewis, Wash., with theft of government property, money laundering and structuring financial transactions, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Karin J. Immergut announced March 5, 2009.

Nguyen was scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak at 1:30 p.m. PST today to answer to the charges.

The indictment alleges that between April 2007 and February 2009, while deployed to Iraq, Capt. Nguyen stole in excess of $690,000 in U.S. currency that was entrusted to him in his role as the battalion Civil Affairs Officer in Muqdadiyah. The funds stolen by Nguyen were derived from the Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds. CERP funds were designed to enable local commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan to respond to urgent humanitarian relief and reconstruction by carrying out programs that would immediately assist the people in the region.

Nguyen is alleged to have mailed the stolen CERP money to his Oregon residence prior to his return from Iraq. The indictment further alleges that shortly after his return from Iraq, Nguyen opened new bank accounts at several banks, including Bank of America and Washington Mutual Bank, and proceeded to deposit the stolen money in a manner intended to avoid detection. After depositing the money in the accounts, Nguyen attempted to launder the stolen money by purchasing a 2008 BMW and a 2009 Hummer H3T, in addition to purchasing computers, electronics and furniture.

U.S. Attorney Karin J. Immergut stated, “As an officer of the U.S. Army and a graduate of West Point, Capt. Nguyen agreed to uphold the principles of ‘Duty, Honor, Country.’ The conduct alleged in today’s indictment is flagrant and reprehensible disregard of these principles. By stealing money intended to assist Iraqi citizens, Capt. Nguyen betrayed his country and the fine men and women of our nation’s armed services.”

An indictment is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant should be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The maximum penalty for each of the charged crimes is 10 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.

The investigation was initiated by the Portland office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation following the discovery of large and frequent currency deposits and substantial expenditures above Captain Nguyen’s legitimate income level. The investigation was joined by the FBI, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit and Defense Criminal Investigative Service. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug.

Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced February, 27, 2009 that Colombo organized crime family acting boss Alphonse “Allie Boy” Persico and administration member John “Jackie” DeRoss were sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the 1999 murder of Colombo underboss William “Wild Bill” Cutolo, and for tampering with witnesses.

The sentencing was held before United States District Judge Joanne Seybert, at the U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip, New York.

During an eight-week trial in late 2007, the evidence established that Persico and DeRoss ordered that Cutolo be murdered because they believed he was about to take control of the Colombo family from Persico, and to serve as retribution for Cutolo’s actions during the bloody “Colombo War” in the early 1990s.

During the war, Cutolo, on behalf of the faction loyal to Vic Orena, tried to wrest control of the Colombo family from Alphonse Persico and his father, Carmine “The Snake” Persico, the family’s official boss.

As part of the murder plot, Persico summoned Cutolo to a meeting on the afternoon of May 26, 1999. That afternoon, an auto mechanic dropped Cutolo off at a park near 92nd Street and Shore Road in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the designated place for the meeting with Persico. Cutolo was never seen or heard from again.

That evening, DeRoss kept watch over Cutolo’s crew at Cutolo’s Friendly Bocce Social Club in Brooklyn, where the crew was awaiting Cutolo’s arrival for their traditional Wednesday dinner. When Cutolo failed to show for dinner, DeRoss feigned surprise and directed Cutolo’s son, William Cutolo, Jr., to telephone his father. Early the next morning, May 27, DeRoss, on Persico’s orders, arrived at Cutolo’s home and began questioning Cutolo’s wife, Marguerite Cutolo, about the location of Cutolo’s money.

Persico and DeRoss were also found guilty of tampering with witnesses Marguerite Cutolo (Cutolo’s widow), Barbara Jean Cutolo (one of Cutolo’s daughters), and William Cutolo, Jr., after Cutolo’s disappearance. The trial evidence included a recording that William Cutolo, Jr. secretly made of DeRoss threatening the Cutolo family in March 2000, several months after it was publicly disclosed that the FBI was investigating Persico in connection with the Cutolo murder.

During the meeting, DeRoss ordered the Cutolo family to provide false, exculpatory information to a private investigator hired by Persico. DeRoss threatened that if the Cutolo family did not assist Persico, Marguerite Cutolo could be “hurt,” as could the “little . . . kids,” a reference to Barbara Jean Cutolo’s seven- and five-year-old daughters. Marguerite and Barbara Jean Cutolo both testified at trial that, as a result of DeRoss’s threats, the Cutolos withheld information about the murder from law enforcement authorities for years.

The information included a statement that Cutolo, Sr. made to Marguerite Cutolo on May 26, 1999, that he believed he was going to meet that day with Persico.

Further investigation following the defendants’ convictions led to the recovery of Cutolo’s body on October 6, 2008, from a field in Farmingdale, New York, where the defendants’ mafia underlings had buried Cutolo after shooting him.

“Today’s life sentences bring to a close the criminal careers of two of New York’s most powerful mafia figures, who chose to settle old scores through murder and then tried to cover up their deed by threatening the victim’s family members, including his wife, children, and grandchildren,” stated United States Attorney Campbell. Mr. Campbell praised the work of the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the agency that led the government’s investigation.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Buretta, Deborah Mayer, and Jeffrey Goldberg.

The Defendants:
ALPHONSE PERSICO, aka “Allie Boy” and “The Kid”
Age: 54
JOHN DeROSS, aka “Jackie”
Age: 71

WASHINGTON — After nearly 13 years as a fugitive, a former New Jersey resident has been returned to the United States, and pleaded guilty today (February, 27th, 2009) to conspiring to committing one of the nation’s largest known motor fuel excise tax schemes, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division announced.

Aaron Misulovin a/k/a Albert Friedman, a/k/a Valery Vibornov, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden, New Jersey, to one count of conspiracy, three counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering and three counts of tax evasion. According to the terms of the plea agreement accepted today by Judge Irenas, Misulovin will be sentenced to five years in prison, and could face a fine of up to $2.5 million and restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for June 19, 2009.

On August 3, 1995, an indictment was returned by a federal grand jury in New Jersey, charging Misulovin and 24 other individuals, 15 of whom were émigrés from Eastern Europe, with conspiring to defraud the United States and the state of New Jersey of approximately $138 million in motor fuel excise taxes, and to commit the substantive offenses of wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. Misulovin was born in Riga, Latvia, and was naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

According to the indictment, Misulovin and co-defendants Igor Erlikh and Demetrios Karamanos, operated Kings Motor Oils (Kings), a wholesale fuel distributorship with offices in Edison, New Jersey. From 1989 through 1994, Kings purchased hundreds of millions of gallons of tax-free home heating oil, but through an elaborate scheme sold it as tax-paid diesel fuel to PetroPlus, a fuel wholesaler located in Deptford, New Jersey, which was owned and operated by co-defendant Daniel Enright. PetroPlus then sold the fuel to unknowing customers as diesel fuel for highway use, and charged and collected the applicable federal and state taxes. Under U.S. and New Jersey law, the co-conspirators incurred the tax liability for the sale of the fuel. However, instead of paying the IRS and state revenue authorities as required, the amount collected for the taxes were distributed among Enright, Misulovin, Erlikh, Karamanos and other conspirators in the scheme.

According to court documents, Kings and PetroPlus insulated themselves by inserting a series of shell companies, nominee companies and other sham entities (known collectively as “middle companies”) between them in the distribution chain to give the appearance that these companies actually bought and sold the fuel. In reality, these companies never took title or possession of the fuel. According to court documents, the sole purpose of these middle companies was the generation of false and fraudulent invoices and other paperwork to disguise the true transactions between Kings and PetroPlus. One of the middle companies in each transaction would be positioned as the “burn” company—the entity that appeared on paper to bear the tax liability and that would disappear in the event of an investigation. However, the scheme was designed so that on the face of the paperwork, it always appeared that Kings and PetroPlus were relieved of any tax liability. In the early-1990s, this scheme was commonly known as a “daisy chain” scheme, and often involved organized crime groups. The “daisy chain” made it difficult for the IRS and state revenue authorities to identify those responsible to pay the federal and state taxes, and to trace the movement of the illicit proceeds. The illicit proceeds were then laundered through various bank accounts throughout the United States and overseas.

Court documents show that the sophistication and scale of this illegal operation required the participation of a number of Eastern European émigrés responsible for the creation of many of the middle companies. According to court documents, the conspirators used false identification to incorporate companies, open bank accounts, and establish storefront offices used to facilitate the scheme.

On June 19, 1998, following a nine-and-a-half-month jury trial before Judge Irenas in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Enright and Karamanos were convicted for their role in the conspiracy and related charges. Also convicted at trial were co-defendants Richard Pedroni and Mary Ingram, both wholesale motor fuels distributors in New Jersey. Two additional defendants were acquitted. Seventeen co-defendants pleaded guilty prior to trial. Enright was sentenced to 16 years in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $1 million.

At the trial of Misulovin’s co-defendants in 1997 and 1998, testimony revealed that that Misulovin and Erlikh recruited many of their friends and associates to set up the middle companies. One government witness, who had been charged as a co-conspirator and pleaded guilty, testified that he considered Misulovin his, “boss in crime.” In addition, the witness revealed that Misulovin and others instructed this witness and members of his crew to form many of the middle companies using false identification. The false identification documents and corporate records of these middle companies were securely stored in a “safe house” in Brooklyn, New York, which Misulovin visited. Witness testimony further showed that when government agents grew suspicious about a particular middle company, Misulovin ordered that all relevant documents be destroyed. Evidence was also presented that Misulovin and Erlikh traveled to Europe during the course of the scheme to open bank accounts to be used in laundering the illegal proceeds. The evidence admitted at trial proved that, throughout the course of the scheme, Misulovin and his co-conspirators caused $596,255,927 to be wired through the middle companies. The scheme resulted in the United States being defrauded of $132,376,800. In addition, the state of New Jersey was defrauded of $11,892,297.

Misulovin and Erlikh evaded arrest on the charges by fleeing the United States in 1995. They were both considered fugitives by U.S. law enforcement, and became the subjects of an international search through notices posted by Interpol. In 1999, Erlikh was returned to the United States by Ukrainian authorities. Erlikh pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution.

In April 2004, Israeli police arrested Misulovin, in connection with their investigation of a major international money laundering operation involving an underground bank in Israel. At the time of Misulovin’s arrest, the Israeli police froze three accounts tied to Misulovin, and seized forged and fraudulent travel documents used by Misulovin to conceal his identity. The Israeli police also seized an illegal Glock-17 firearm and ammunition from Misulovin.

U.S. and Israeli law enforcement authorities cooperated extensively throughout the duration of the Israeli investigation and prosecution of Misulovin. During this investigation, it was revealed that a portion of the funds Misulovin had laundered through the underground bank in Israel had been originally generated by his “daisy-chain” scheme in the United States. Ultimately, in July 2007, Misulovin pleaded guilty before the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Magistrate’s Court to the Israeli charges involving the use of false and forged documents, illegal possession of a firearm and money laundering. Misulovin was sentenced by the Israeli court to serve two years in prison, which he began to serve in Israel in March 2008.

Misulovin entered into a plea agreement with the United States in January 2008. As part of the agreement, Misulovin agreed to waive the pending extradition, and volunteered to participate in the International Prisoner Transfer Program. The program was formally established in 1977 when Congress passed enabling legislation and the United States entered into its first transfer treaty with Mexico. In 1985, the United States also acceded to the multilateral transfer convention, the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (the COE Convention). Israel is also a signatory to the COE Convention. This allowed the United States and Israel to return Misulovin, who was sentenced and imprisoned in Israel, to the United States to serve the time remaining on his Israeli sentence. Misulovin’s case is the first time that a U.S. citizen was transferred from Israel under the COE Convention.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Newark Division; the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General; and the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

The prosecution of the case has been led by Deputy Chief Thomas P. Ott of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. The prosecution has received assistance from other federal and foreign authorities, including: the Tax Division’s Northern Criminal Enforcement Section; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey; the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations, International Prisoner Transfer Unit; the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs; the Bureau of Prisons; the Israel Ministry of Justice; and the Israel Police, Unit for Serious and International Crime.

WASHINGTON – Christopher Paul, a/k/a Abdul Malek, a/k/a Paul Kenyatta Laws, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen born in Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced to 20 years in prison today (FEBRUARY 26, 2009) for conspiring with others to use a weapon of mass destruction, namely explosive devices, against targets in Europe and the United States.

The sentence, which was handed down by U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost in the Southern District of Ohio, was announced by Matthew G. Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Gregory G. Lockhart, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Executive Assistant Director Arthur M. Cummings, II, of the FBI’s National Security Branch; and Keith L. Bennett, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cincinnati Division.

On June 3, 2008, Paul pleaded guilty to count two of a three-count indictment charging him with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists; conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives); and providing material support and resources to terrorists. At his guilty plea, Paul agreed to a sentence of 20 years in prison. The government agreed to dismiss counts one and three of the indictment.

“Today’s sentence brings an end to the long, militant career of Christopher Paul, an Ohio native who joined al Qaeda in the early 1990s, fought in Afghanistan and Bosnia and conspired with others to target Americans both at home and abroad,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen. “His lengthy prison term demonstrates our continuing resolve to protect the American public against terrorism.”

“The Paul case represents the culmination of extraordinary efforts by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force as a whole and, in particular, the JTTF Paul case agents: FBI Special Agent Latisha Hartsough, Westerville Police Detective Mike Shaheen, and Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Goetz. Without the JTTF’s efforts and those of our international law enforcement counterparts, this case would not have been possible,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory G. Lockhart.

“Thanks to the work of the agents and officers at our Columbus Joint Terrorism Task Force, American-born Christopher Paul’s actions in support of al Qaeda were disrupted and exposed. Through our partnerships around the country, we will continue to investigate and bring to justice those like him who threaten the safety and welfare of American citizens,” said Executive Assistant Director Arthur M. Cummings, II, of the FBI’s National Security Branch.

According to a statement of facts read by the case agent during the change of plea hearing for Paul in June 2008 and acknowledged to be true by the defendant:

In the early 1990s, Paul traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to join the mujahedeen. At an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, he received initial training in, among other things, the use of assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and small unit tactics. After successfully completing this training, he joined al Qaeda and stayed at the Beit ur Salam guesthouse, which was exclusively for al Qaeda members. Having distinguished himself to al Qaeda, Paul was then selected for and obtained advanced training in explosives, climbing, and military history. Paul then fought in Afghanistan alongside other mujahedeen.

After fighting in Afghanistan, Paul returned to Ohio, where he began instructing individuals in martial arts in Columbus. He also began recruiting local individuals with extremist intentions in order to establish a jihadist group in Ohio. Over time and through his association with al Qaeda, Paul became dedicated to committing jihad and furthering the objectives of al Qaeda and other radical Islamic fundamentalists.

From 1993 through 1995, Paul, using various passports and names, traveled to the Balkans in Europe and fought in conflict zones such as Bosnia, establishing further contact with radical Islamic fundamentalists, and creating a master list of al Qaeda leaders and other Islamic radicals worldwide. This list and bomb-making information was seized during the execution of a search warrant at the defendant’s home.

Paul returned to Columbus after fighting in the Balkans, and, in 1997, received a fax from two al Qaeda co-conspirators in Europe asking, on behalf of “the brothers,” for Paul to find them a “true group and place to make jihad.” While in Columbus, Paul conducted training operations in Burr Oak State Park in Ohio with several members of his local group, replicating terrorist training he had received in Afghanistan and Bosnia.

Preparing to travel again overseas, Paul obtained a new passport after claiming his old passport – in one of his other aliases – had been damaged by water. Beginning in March 31, 1999, and continuing through Jan. 31, 2000, Paul made 44 calls to an Islamic fundamentalist co-conspirator in Europe, who was arrested in 2003 and later convicted of a terrorist conspiracy.

On April 16, 1999, Paul traveled to meet with members of an Islamic terror cell in Germany, who knew him as an expert in bomb-making/detonation devices. In Germany, Paul provided explosives training to the cell knowing that it was planning to use this training to construct bombs, car bombs, and similar devices to be used against Americans while they vacationed at foreign tourist resorts. The German terrorist cell also planned to use bombs against Americans in the United States, and against U.S. facilities abroad, such as U.S. embassies, diplomatic premises and military bases in Europe.

Upon his return to Ohio from Germany, Paul had a member of his group in Columbus purchase a printer / scanner in May 1999. The printer/scanner was then sent to one of the German terror cell members in order to help the cell manufacture fraudulent documents to facilitate worldwide travel. The cell member did not claim the package in Germany and it was sent back to Paul. During this time, Paul also bought other equipment to be used by extremists, including night vision equipment and a laser range finder. Additional similar items were found during the execution of search warrants by the Columbus FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Furthermore, in November 1999, bank records show that Paul wire transferred $1,760 to one of the principal members of the German cell.

The Paul investigation was conducted by the Columbus FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, a multi-agency operation led by the FBI that includes agents and officers from 10 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio and the Justice Department’s National Security Division.