An update on this story from AP, :
NEW YORK (AP) — A Washington, D.C., cab driver, a Florida doctor and a Bronx jazz musician have pleaded not guilty to charges they conspired to help terrorist organizations.
Taxi driver Mahmud Faruq Brent, of Gwynn Oak, Md., smiled and waved at family members and friends before entering his plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday.
Seated in the jury box with Brent were defendants, Tarik Shah, 42, and Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 50. The defendants remained held without bail….
The government has said that Shah told investigators after his arrest that he trained Brent in martial arts while they lived in Beacon, N.Y., in 2001 and that they often watched martial arts training videos and videos about holy war, or jihad, in Bosnia.
“The idea that members of al-Qaida need somebody from the Bronx to teach martial arts is ridiculous,” said Shah’s lawyer, Anthony Ricco….
Prosecutors say that during one taped conversation at a hotel in Columbia, Md., Brent indicated he had traveled to Pakistan and into the mountains for training “and stuff” with “the mujahideen, the fighters.”