Ohio terrorist convictions upheld by Appeals Court, one applied for US government grants to finance operations

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9/24/12, "Toledo Terrorists’ Convictions Affirmed By Appeals Court," ohio.mediatrackers.org

"On August 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit rejected an appeal from three Toledo-area men convicted of recruiting and training terrorists to kill American soldiers. Mohammad Amawi, Marwan El-Hindi, and Wassim Mazloum were convicted in June 2008 on two counts each of providing material support to foreign Islamist terrorist groups and conspiring to kill or injure American military personnel stationed in the Middle East.

Amawi and El-Hindi were also convicted of two counts of distributing information related to explosives. In November 2008, El-Hindi – who sought government grants to finance the Muslim terrorists’ operations – was convicted on separate charges of conspiracy, theft of public funds, and wire fraud.

The trio’s appeal hinged on arguments that they had been entrapped by FBI informant Dale Griffin, who played the role of “an ex-Green Beret, disenchanted with the United States.” Griffin met the would-be terrorists in 2002 through a Toledo-area mosque, working with them for the next several years on what he termed his “jihad.”

The Sixth Circuit ruled that Griffin had committed no misconduct and that his actions did not constitute entrapment. The court’s decision upheld a lower court’s earlier rulings, which included denial of a request for acquittal and dismissal of their indictment.

According to the opinion written by Judge Danny Boggs, Amawi told Griffin that he “wanted to go to perform Jihad against the U.S. troops overseas.” Although he claimed before the Sixth Circuit that he sought training only for self-defense, Amawi provided Griffin with jihadist training videos for distribution to like-minded terrorists....

While watching a terrorist training video, El-Hindi “commented about the techniques and discussed ways of using them to harm American interests.” El-Hindi also hosted a planning meeting with Griffin and his co-defendants, and “offered to recruit ‘brothers’ in Michigan for jihadi training.”

Dearborn, Michigan, has become known as a hotbed of Islamic extremism....

Throughout 2004 and 2005, the trio cultivated contacts with Islamic terrorist cells in the Middle East with Griffin’s assistance. In February 2006, the FBI instructed Griffin “to leave his apartment at once,” as his identity would soon be known to the public. El-Hindi, Mazloum, and Amawi were arrested soon after."...via Atlas Shrugs


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