United States v. Hashmi (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 27, 2010)

* United States v. Hashmi (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 27, 2010)

Hashmi yesterday pled guilty to material support charges. Details from the press release appear below:

NEW YORK – Syed Hashmi, aka “Fahad,” pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court to conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaeda, announced Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Hashmi, 30, was arrested on June 6, 2006, at Heathrow Airport in London, shortly before he was to board a flight to Pakistan. He was later extradited to the United States; Hashmi is the first individual to be extradited from the United Kingdom to the United States on terrorism charges.

According to the superseding indictment filed in Manhattan, N.Y., federal court and statements made during the guilty plea proceeding:

From January 2004 through May 2006, Hashmi provided material support or resources to al-Qaeda by helping to provide equipment to others who then transported the equipment to al-Qaeda associates in South Waziristan, Pakistan. Hashmi provided the equipment with knowledge that it would be used by al-Qaeda to fight against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Hashmi also provided money to a co-conspirator who planned to transport the equipment to al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Hashmi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, namely al-Qaeda, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Hashmi is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Chief Judge Loretta A. Preska on June 7, 2010.

…

By Robert M. Chesney

Robert M. Chesney is Charles I. Francis Professor in Law at UT-Austin School of Law. Chesney is a national security law specialist, with a particular interest in problems associated with terrorism. Professor Chesney recently served in the Justice Department in connection with the Detainee Policy Task Force created by Executive Order 13493. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, a senior editor for the Journal of National Security Law & Policy, an associate member of the Intelligence Science Board, a non-resident senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the American Law Institute. Professor Chesney has published extensively on topics ranging from detention and prosecution in the counterterrorism context to the states secrets privilege. He served previously as chair of the Section on National Security Law of the Association of American Law Schools and as editor of the National Security Law Report (published by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security). His upcoming projects include two books under contract with Oxford University Press, one concerning the evolution of detention law and policy and the other examining the judicial role in national security affairs.

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