Posted on 07/11/2007 6:59:58 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
CHICAGO - A Chicago medical van driver accused by federal prosecutors of funneling money to Mideast terrorists was sentenced Wednesday to 21 months in federal prison for lying in a civil lawsuit.
Muhammad Salah, 54, also was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and do 100 hours of community service.
"Telling the truth is the bedrock of our judicial system, and a slap on the wrist will not provide a deterrent," U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said in sentencing Salah. He has until Oct. 11 to surrender and begin his sentence.
Salah was convicted in February of lying under oath in a civil lawsuit concerning the murder in Israel of a teenager by Hamas terrorists.
The indictment against Salah was originally announced at a news conference with then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who called it a major step in the war on terrorism. He said Salah and co-defendant Abdelhaleem Ashqar operated "a U.S.-based terrorist recruiting and financing cell."
But a jury on Feb. 1 acquitted Salah and Ashqar of taking part in a racketeering conspiracy aimed at bankrolling the terrorist group Hamas.
The same jury, however, did convict Salah of a single count of obstruction of justice for lying under oath on a written questionnaire involving the shooting death in Israel of an American teenager, David Boim. The Boim family sued Salah and a number of Islamic charities, claiming that they had funneled money to Hamas terrorists.
The jury convicted Ashqar, a former business professor, of refusing to testify before a federal grand jury after he had been granted immunity from prosecution. He will be sentenced at a later date.
In addressing the court, Salah described the United States as "the nation of nations."
"I was homeless and it gave me a home, I was stateless and it gave me a state," he told St. Eve. His attorney said he would decide in the next few days whether to appeal.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve said in sentencing Salah. He has until Oct. 11 to surrender and begin his sentence.
Salah was convicted in February of lying under oath in a civil lawsuit concerning the murder in Israel of a teenager by Hamas terrorists.
The indictment against Salah was originally announced at a news conference with then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who called it a major step in the war on terrorism. He said Salah and co-defendant Abdelhaleem Ashqar operated "a U.S.-based terrorist recruiting and financing cell."
But a jury on Feb. 1 acquitted Salah and Ashqar of taking part in a racketeering conspiracy aimed at bankrolling the terrorist group Hamas.
The same jury, however, did convict Salah of a single count of obstruction of justice for lying under oath on a written questionnaire involving the shooting death in Israel of an American teenager, David Boim. The Boim family sued Salah and a number of Islamic charities, claiming that they had funneled money to Hamas terrorists.
The jury convicted Ashqar, a former business professor, of refusing to testify before a federal grand jury after he had been granted immunity from prosecution. He will be sentenced at a later date.
In addressing the court, Salah described the United States as "the nation of nations."
"I was homeless and it gave me a home, I was stateless and it gave me a state," he told St. Eve. His attorney said he would decide in the next few days whether to appeal.
.
Muhammad Salah leaves the Dirksen Federal courthouse in Chicago July 11, 2007. Muhammad Salah, a Palestinian-born man found not guilty earlier this year of conspiring to illegally finance Hamas terrorist activities in Israel, was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Wednesday on a related charge. REUTERS/John Gress (UNITED STATES)
But we’re supposed to believe the libs and Leftists when they tell us that Sodammed Insane had nothing to do with terrorism. It’s in the US, but it wasn’t in Iraq. Right.
More time than clinton got
Gotta love being a member of the ‘religion of peace’ that allows you to lie for it. It’s called “taqiyya” - the islamic principle of lying for the sake of Allah.
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