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North Carolina Man Convicted of Aiding Lebanese Hezbollah
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| U.S.
Attorney Bob Conrad announces the conviction of two Lebanese
nationals for providing support to Lebanon’s Hezbollah
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WASHINGTON,
June 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A U.S. federal court jury
in Charlotte, North Carolina, Friday, June 21, convicted Lebanese
national Mohammad Hammoud of providing material support to Hezbollah,
which opposed an 18-year Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon that
ended in May 2000, through profits from a multimillion-dollar
cigarette smuggling scheme.
Hammoud
and his brother, Chawki Hammoud, were also convicted of conspiracy,
cigarette smuggling, money laundering, racketeering and immigration
fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte said in a statement.
U.S.
authorities have accused the Hammoud brothers, of organizing a
Hezbollah cell - which U.S. authorities consider a terrorist
organization - and of financing the group’s activities through a
scheme to smuggle $7.9 million worth of cigarettes from North
Carolina, where tobacco taxes are low, to higher-tax states for
resale, selling them at an illegal profit in Michigan.
Hammoud
and his brother, Chawki Hammoud, 37, both natives of Lebanon, were
convicted of cigarette smuggling, racketeering and money laundering.
Prosecutors
proved that $3,500 in profits from the venture were funneled by
Mohamad Hammoud to high-ranking Hezbollah leaders in 1999, as
prosecutors also suggested he also sent other money to Hezbollah,
reports the Washington Post.
The
government also alleges the cigarette conspiracy was linked to a
separate effort to procure equipment from the United States and Canada
to be sent to Hezbollah for possible military and terrorist uses,
reports news agencies.
Jurors
watched hours of Hezbollah videotapes seized from Hammoud’s home,
including footage of crowds chanting, “Death to America! Death to
Israel!” They also heard recordings of phone conversations between
Hammoud and several alleged leaders of Hezbollah, including the
group’s reputed military chief, Sheik Abbas Harake, and the man long
identified as its spiritual leader, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah,
reports the Post.
“Today,
the United States’ war on terrorism took a step forward. This
jury’s verdict signals that terrorists and their supporters will not
be safe from prosecution,” the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
“Efforts to operate clandestine cells in communities within the
United States will not be tolerated.”
It
noted that Hezbollah was responsible for “the deaths of more
Americans than any other terrorist group,” referring to the 1983
attacks on the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon that claimed the lives
of more than 250 U.S. soldiers and on the U.S. embassy.
Mohammad
Hammoud faces a maximum total penalty of more than 200 years in jail
while his brother Chawki faces a total of more than 100 years. There
is no possibility of parole for federal sentences.
No
sentencing date was set. Defense attorneys said they will appeal the
verdict.
Deke
Falls, attorney for Mohammad Hammoud, told news agencies, “This soon
after September 11th, this jury could’ve come back in two hours and
convicted these guys on everything.”
For
his part, Mohammad Hammoud, described as intelligent and well-spoken,
did not deny smuggling cigarettes, saying he used the proceeds to help
family members in Lebanon and to support Hezbollah’s efforts to
distribute books at schools and improve public water systems, reports
the Post.
In
Falls’ final appeal to the jury before they went into deliberations,
he urged panel members not to confuse the defendants’ sympathy for
Hezbollah with illegal acts.
Falls
acknowledged that Mohammad Hammoud sympathized with the group’s
effort to end Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, but Falls
denied Hammoud ever sent money to the group after it was designated a
terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, reports news
agencies.
“There’s
no thought police in the United States,” he told jurors Tuesday.
“You’re free to think and live as you want. ... Do not go back and
convict a man because you don’t understand his culture.”
The
Hammouds were among 18 people arrested in July 2000 in the Charlotte
area and in Michigan after a Federal Bureau of Investigation sweep
dubbed “Operation Smokescreen.”
Another
of the 18, Said Mohammad Harb, pleaded guilty in April and agreed to
testify against the others.
During
trial, Falls questioned the character of Harb, who said Mohammad
Hammoud gave him the $3,500 to give to a Hezbollah commander. All the
other government witnesses described Harb as a liar, and Mohammad
Hammoud cut off contact with Harb after the man stole $12,000, reports
news agencies.
“You’re
not going to give $3,500 to someone who stole $12,000 from you,”
Falls said.
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