Federal Judge = Hands Downs Sentences in Holy Land Foundation Case

Holy Land Foundation and Leaders Convicted on Providing = Material=20 Support to Hamas Terrorist Organization

WASHINGTON, May 27=20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, in federal court in=20 Dallas, U.S. District Judge = Jorge A.=20 Solis sentenced the Holy Land Foundation for Relief = and=20 Development (HLF) and five of its leaders following their=20 convictions by a federal jury in November = 2008 on=20 charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated = foreign=20 terrorist organization, announced acting U.S. Attorney = James=20 T. Jacks of the Northern District of=20 Texas, and David Kris, Assistant = Attorney=20 General for National Security. All defendants are presently = in=20 federal custody.

"Today's sentences mark the culmination of many years of=20 painstaking investigative and prosecutorial work at the = federal,=20 state and local levels. All those involved in this landmark = case=20 deserve our thanks," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney = General for=20 National Security. "These sentences should serve as a strong = warning=20 to anyone who knowingly provides financial support to = terrorists=20 under the guise of humanitarian relief."

HLF was incorporated by Shukri Abu = Baker,=20 Mohammad El-Mezain, and Ghassan Elashi.=20 Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman=20 Odeh worked as fund raisers. Together, with others, = they=20 provided material support to the Hamas movement.

Shukri Abu Baker, 50, of = Garland,=20 Texas, was sentenced to a total of 65 years in = prison. He=20 was convicted of 10 counts of conspiracy to provide, and the = provision of, material support to a designated foreign = terrorist=20 organization; 11 counts of conspiracy to provide, and the = provision=20 of, funds, goods and services to a Specially Designated = Terrorist;=20 10 counts of conspiracy to commit, and the commission of, = money=20 laundering; one count of conspiracy to impede and impair the = Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and one count of filing a = false tax=20 return.

Mohammad El-Mezain, 55, of San Diego,=20 California, was sentenced to the statutory = maximum of 15=20 years in prison. He was convicted on one count of conspiracy = to=20 provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist=20 organization.

Ghassan Elashi, 55, of = Richardson,=20 Texas, was sentenced to a total of 65 years in = prison. He=20 was convicted on the same counts as Abu = Baker, and=20 one additional count of filing a false tax return.

Mufid Abdulqader, 49, of = Richardson,=20 Texas, was sentenced to a total of 20 years in = prison. He=20 was convicted on one count of conspiracy to provide material = support=20 to a designated foreign terrorist organization; one count of = conspiracy to provide goods, funds, and services to a = specially=20 designated terrorist; and one count of conspiracy to commit = money=20 laundering.

Abdulrahman Odeh, 49, of=20 Patterson, New = Jersey, was=20 sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was convicted on the = same counts=20 as Abdulqader.

HLF, now defunct, was convicted on 10 counts of = conspiracy to=20 provide, and the provision of, material support to a = designated=20 foreign terrorist organization; 11 counts of conspiracy to = provide,=20 and the provision of, funds, goods and services to a = Specially=20 Designated Terrorist; and 10 counts of conspiracy to commit, = and the=20 commission of, money laundering.

The Court reaffirmed the jury's $12.4 = million=20 money judgment against all the defendants, with the = exception of El=20 Mezain, who was not convicted of money laundering.

From its inception, HLF existed to support Hamas. Before = HLF was=20 designed as a Specially Designated Terrorist by the Treasury = Department and shut down in December 2001, it = was the=20 largest U.S. Muslim charity. It was based in = Richardson,=20 Texas, a Dallas suburb. The=20 "material support statute," as it is commonly referred to, = was=20 enacted in 1996 as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective = Death=20 Penalty Act. That statute recognizes that money is fungible, = and=20 that money in the hands of a terrorist organization -- even = if for=20 so called charitable purposes -- supports that = organization's=20 overall terrorist objectives.

The government presented evidence at trial that, as the = U.S.=20 began to scrutinize individuals and entities in the U.S. who = were=20 raising funds for terrorist groups in the mid-1990s, the HLF = intentionally hid its financial support for Hamas behind the = guise=20 of charitable donations. HLF and these five defendants = provided=20 approximately $12.4 million in support to = Hamas and=20 its goal of creating an Islamic Palestinian state by = eliminating the=20 State of Israel through violent jihad. =

The government's case included testimony that in the = early=20 1990's, Hamas' parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, = planned=20 to establish a network of organizations in the U.S. to = spread a=20 militant Islamist message and raise money for Hamas. The=20 government's case also included testimony about Hamas = material found=20 in zakat committees. The defendants sent HLF-raised funds to = Hamas-controlled zakat committees and charitable societies = in the=20 West Bank and = Gaza. Zakat=20 is an Arabic word referring to the religious obligation to = give=20 alms.

HLF became the chief fundraising arm for the Palestine = Committee=20 in the U.S. created by the Muslim Brotherhood to support = Hamas.=20 According to a wiretap of a 1993 Palestine Committee meeting = in=20 Philadelphia, former HLF President and = CEO=20 Shukri Abu Baker, spoke about playing down = their=20 Hamas ties in order to keep raising money in the U.S. = Another=20 wiretapped phone call included Abdulrahman = Odeh,=20 HLF's New Jersey representative, = referring to a=20 suicide bombing as "a beautiful operation."

The government also presented evidence that several HLF=20 defendants have family members who are Hamas leaders, = including=20 Hamas' political chief, Mousa Abu Marzook, = who is=20 married to a cousin of Ghassan Elashi, = HLF's former=20 Chairman of the Board. Ghassan Elashi, who = also=20 served as the vice-president of marketing for Infocom = Corporation,=20 is currently serving an 80-month sentence following his = conviction=20 on several charges related to export violations. Mohammed = El-Mezain=20 was HLF's Director of Endowments and Mufid Abdulqater was a = major=20 HLF fundraiser. Two named defendants, Akram = Mishal=20 and Haitham Maghawri are fugitives.

The defendants provided financial support to the families = of=20 Hamas martyrs, detainees, and activists knowing and = intending that=20 such assistance would support the Hamas terrorist = organization.=20 Since 1995, when it first became illegal to provide = financial=20 support to Hamas, HLF provided approximately $12.4=20 million in funding to Hamas through various = Hamas-affiliated=20 committees and organizations located in = Palestinian-controlled areas=20 and elsewhere.

During trial, the government also presented evidence that = HLF was=20 so concerned about investigators uncovering the group's = intentions=20 that they kept a manual entitled "The Foundation's Policies = and=20 Procedures." HLF followed various security procedures = outlined in=20 the manual to include hiring a security company to search = the HLF=20 for listening devices, ordering defendant Haitham Maghawri, = a=20 fugitive, to take training on advanced methods in detecting=20 wiretaps, shredding documents after board meetings, and = maintaining=20 incriminating documents in off-site locations.

The case was investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task = Force,=20 involving agents from federal, state, and local agencies = including:=20 FBI, IRS - Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and = Customs=20 Enforcement (ICE), Department of State, U.S. Secret Service, = U.S.=20 Army Criminal Investigation Division, the Texas Department = of Public=20 Safety, and the Dallas,=20 Plano, Garland and = Richardson, Texas, Police Departments. = In=20 addition, the Department of Justice Criminal Division's = Asset=20 Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section provided assistance. =

The case was prosecuted by James T. = Jacks,=20 acting U.S. Attorney; Barry Jonas, Trial = Attorney=20 for the Department of Justice = Counter-terrorism=20 Section; and Elizabeth J. Shapiro, Deputy = Director,=20 Federal Programs Branch, Department of Justice, serving as a = Special=20 Assistant U.S. Attorney.

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