somali shopping mall terrorist turned down generous plea dea

[musika man]

Convicted shopping mall terrorist turned down generous plea deal

Nov 28, 2007 5:59 PM (7 days ago) By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS, AP
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Map, News) - A convicted terrorist sentenced to 10 years in prison turned down plea deals that would have required him to acknowledge ties with al-Qaida and testify against other terror suspects, The Associated Press has learned.

The deals would have meant fewer years behind bars for Nuradin Abdi and allowed the Somali immigrant to avoid deportation at the end of his prison term.

The deals were offered after Abdi was indicted in June 2004 on charges he plotted to blow up a shopping mall, according to Yusuf Abucar, a family spokesman, and David Smith, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney who previously represented convicted terrorist Iyman Faris.

Abdi was offered five years in prison minus his time already served and an immigration green card, Abucar and Smith said Wednesday.

The government wanted Abdi to acknowledge ties with al-Qaida and to testify against other terror suspects, both of which he refused to do, Abucar said.

Abdi's family urged him to take the deal but he refused, arguing he was innocent, Abucar said.

"He believed that the government didn't have any strong case against him and he should not accept that kind of plea bargain," Abucar said. "He wanted to be cleared of everything."

Abdi's attorney, Mahir Sherif, declined to comment beyond a short statement: "I cannot tell you that the information that you have received is incorrect."

Abdi changed his mind about a plea deal over the summer and agreed in July to plead to one count of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, a conspiracy that included the mall plot.

That plea agreement included a 10-year prison term and deportation and no mention of cooperating with the government in other cases.

Sherif has said Abdi agreed to the plea to get on with his life and because he worried what a jury would decide given the country's current mood.

Fred Alverson, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office, said Wednesday the government does not discuss plea negotiations. After Tuesday's sentencing, Alverson said any previous deals didn't matter.

"He pled guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and the 10-year sentence was part of that plea agreement," Alverson said Tuesday. "So that's what's the final record and that's what counts."

With time already served, Abdi will be in federal prison for six years, then deported to Somalia, under the sentence he received Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley.

The government wanted Abdi to testify against Christopher Paul, a suburban Columbus native the government has charged with plotting to bomb European tourist resorts frequented by Americans and overseas U.S. military installations, Abucar said.

Abdi refused to testify against a fellow Muslim but also said he didn't know what the government was talking about, Abucar said.

"He's very religious," Abucar said. "He said, 'If I lie, God will punish me.'"

Federal prosecutors have said Abdi threatened to blow up an unspecified shopping mall while meeting in a Columbus-area coffee shop with Faris and Paul on Aug. 8, 2002.

They also introduced evidence that Abdi told investigators he gave stolen credit card numbers to Paul to buy gear for overseas terrorists.

Faris pleaded guilty in May 2003 to providing material support for terrorism. A Pakistani immigrant, Faris was convicted of plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1073994~Convi ... _deal.html