nationalsecuritylaw United States v. Hamayel (S.D. Fla. Dec. 16, 2010)

* United States v. Hamayel (S.D. Fla. Dec. 16, 2010) (guilty plea in weapons export conspiracy case)

A guilty plea yesterday from a Palestinian man involved in a plot to purchase a large amount of automatic weapons, grenades, and material for IEDs for export. Details from the press release:

MIAMI – Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami Field Office, announced that defendant Abdalaziz Aziz Hamayel, 23, of West Bank Palestinian Authority, pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy to possess stolen firearms (M-16s, AK-47s) and to transport explosive materials, including hand grenades and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2011. Hamayel faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy charge.

According to statements made before U.S. District Court Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, in April 2009, an FBI confidential source told agents about two individuals, Hamayel and co-conspirator Yanny Aguila Urbay, 24, of Hialeah. According to the confidential source, these individuals wanted to purchase large quantities of automatic weapons. The confidential source then introduced an undercover officer (UC) to Hamayel and Urbay as a purported supplier of fully-automatic, stolen weapons

At their first meeting with the UC on May 11, 2009, Hamayel and Urbay requested 200 to 300 fully-automatic assault rifles. They also asked if the UC could supply grenades and homemade bombs with remote detonation capabilities. When asked what he was going to do with the weapons, Hamayel stated that the weapons would all be going out of the country.

On June 11, 2009, the UC met with Hamayel and showed him examples of the weapons he requested for purchase, including an AK-47, two M-16s, two grenades and two detonators for IEDs. On June 12, 2009, at Hamayel’s request, the UC provided a photo of these items to Hamayel so he could show the weapons to the prospective buyers.

On June 19, 2009, Hamayel left the country. When Hamayel returned to the United States on Aug. 30, 2010, he was arrested by federal authorities. Co-conspirator Urbay was subsequently arrested on Sept. 6, 2010. Urbay is scheduled to appear for trial on these charges before Judge Middlebrooks on Jan. 24, 2011.

…

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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