Bakersfield, California Yemen-American Agent Sentenced

Amen Ahmed Ali accepted a plea agreement in Bakersfield, California on charges that he was acting as an agent for the Islamic country of Yemen. He admitted "illegally exporting military equipment, possession of stolen U.S. property and conspiracy to act as an illegal agent for a foreign country between 1997 and 2006. Note that he was aiding terrorism before September 11, 2001. Thrown in the pot of indictments, Ali was initially charged with "acquiring and transmitting secret defense information obtained from a government undercover agent. For this, he is sentenced to a maximum of 5 years in prison.

Amen Ahmed Ali Arrest

Ali is a naturalized U.S. citizen according to this Bakersfield news site. He was born in Yemen and has been in California for more than 30 years. A Federal Judge ruled that he was not eligible for bail due to risk of flight, and has apparently been held in a Bakersfield jail since early 2007.

Amen Ahmed Ali, who would be about 60 years old now, had two accomplices indicted by a federal grand jury in Fresno, California: Mohamed Al-Rahimi of Bakersfield, about 66 years old today, and California and Ibrahim A. Omer of Fort Worth, Texas, about 44. The arrests came after a two year investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force along with the Bakersfield Police Department and the Kern County Sheriff's office.

Prosecutors said Ali shipped night-vision goggles, laptop computers, and satellite phone sold to him by an FBI undercover-agent who posed as a soldier of the U.S. Army. He also admitted shipping bulletproof vests, and chemical protective suits. Source: Fox News

Ali reportedly had access to five bank accounts holding large amounts of money. Prosecutors had 115 taped phone calls authorized under FISA.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September 2006, the man had several aliases: Ali Amin Alrowhani, Amin Al Rohany and Ameen Alrohany.

The original counts charged:

COUNT ONE (Ali) - Conspiracy to Possess and Transmit Defense Information - 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine;

COUNT TWO (Ali and Omer) - Conspiracy to Unlawfully Export Defense Articles - 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine;

COUNT THREE (Ali and Omer) - Attempted Unlawful Export of Defense Articles - 10 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine;

COUNT FOUR (Ali and Al-Rahimi) - Conspiracy to Possess Stolen Government Property - 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

For this and his guilty plea, the man will spend only five years in prison, the maximum penalty. Sentencing is January 24th, 2011. That's like a slap on the wrist to a dedicated Muslim terrorist. If his previous jail time on the charges are considered (and I cannot confirm they will be counted) Ali will spend only 1 year in prison.

According to JihadWatch, when the arrests first occurred on September 8, 2006, accomplice Ibrahim A. Omer was taken into custody in Bossier City, Louisiana, and Al-Rahimi was being sought. I'm finding no arrest or conviction information about Mohamed Al-Rahimi.

Posted by Maggie @ Maggie's Notebook