Show me a jihadist
We are constantly told that no Muslims, none, not one in the U.S. endorses the al-Qaeda view of Islam, and that only greasy Islamophobes think otherwise, and that all Muslims, every last one, all Muslims in the U.S. subscribe to a benign, Rotarian form of Islam that has never actually been articulated in Islamic terms or based on any Qur’anic exegesis, and which has never before been seen anywhere in the world, but in which we all must believe on pain of charges of racism, bigotry and Islamophobia. Khalid Ouazzani somehow missed the meeting where they went over all that.
“Missouri Man Gets 14 Years for Al-Qaida Support,” by Bill Draper for the Associated Press, October 7 (thanks to Creeping Sharia):
A Kansas City businessman who swore an oath of allegiance to al-Qaida and three years ago pleaded guilty to providing financial support to the international terror group was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison, despite a plea from his attorney for lenience because of the risk he took by becoming an informant against the organization.
Khalid Ouazzani, 35, who pleaded guilty in May 2010 to bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to support a terrorist group, was sentenced in federal court in Kansas City.
Federal prosecutors claimed Ouazzani provided more than $23,000 to al-Qaida and had pledged more, with the hope of eventually traveling to the Middle East to join the fight against the U.S.
In his guilty plea, Ouazzani admitted making false claims to borrow money for a used auto parts business and wiring the proceeds to a bank in Dubai. That money was used to purchase an apartment in Dubai that later sold for a $17,000 profit, which was given to al-Qaida. Ouazzani also admitted sending the terror group $6,500 from the sale of his business.
Ouazzani, a married father of two who became a U.S. citizen in June 2006, admitted in his plea bargain to bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to support a terrorist group after admitting he gave money and swore an oath of allegiance to the terror network in 2008.
At Ouazzani’s sentencing hearing Monday, his attorney, Robin Fowler, asked U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs for a five-year sentence “” Ouazzani already has served roughly 42 months “” because his cooperation with federal authorities had landed his two co-conspirators in jail.
That makes him a snitch and a Muslim who provided support to al-Qaida, both of which puts his life behind bars in danger, Fowler said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Casey said the government recommended 15 years “” sharply reduced from the roughly 30 years he could have gotten under sentencing guidelines “” for supporting the terrorist group and committing bank fraud.
Sachs noted that the charge of supporting al-Qaida is a serious crime, and despite Ouazzani’s cooperation in the separate case he needed to be adequately punished.
“He did cooperate, as the judge stated, but that doesn’t erase what he did,” U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson said after the hearing. “A lot of damage, a lot of lives could have been lost with that $23,000.”
Federal officials said last year that Ouazzani was part of a small terror cell with two New York men, Sabirhan Hasanoff and Wesam El-Hanafi, both of whom pleaded guilty in June 2012 to their roles in the conspiracy.
After he was arrested in February 2010 on 33 counts, Ouazzani waived his Miranda rights and told investigators about Hasanoff and El-Hanafi. When confronted by information Ouazzani provided, the two New Yorkers pleaded guilty last year, Fowler said. Without his cooperation, both might still be involved with terrorism, he said….