Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Mohammed Abdullah Warsame's guilty plea, which was announced Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Frank Magill Jr., comes about two weeks after Warsame's attorneys asked that he be released while awaiting trial on charges that also included lying to the FBI.
As part of a plea agreement, Warsame admitted to a single count of conspiring to support al-Qaida. The other charges will be dismissed.
Warsame remains in federal custody, and it wasn't immediately clear whether he will be released or have to serve additional time after his sentencing on July 9. Warsame's lead attorney, David Thomas, and Peter Erlinder, a William Mitchell College of Law professor who's been helping the defense, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
While Warsame faces a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the federal sentencing guidelines usually result in lesser sentences. The U.S. attorney's office said Warsame has agreed to be deported to Canada upon completion of his sentence.
Authorities have said Warsame, a Canadian of Somali descent living in Minneapolis, once dined with Osama bin Laden, fought with the Taliban and attended training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Under the plea agreement, Warsame admitted to conspiring with others to provide al-Qaida with personnel, training and currency starting in March 2000. He traveled to Afghanistan and attended several al-Qaida training camps, including one where authorities said he met bin Laden.
Warsame returned to Canada in March 2001, then relocated to Minneapolis. Throughout 2002 and 2003, he exchanged e-mails and provided information to several people associated with al-Qaida, according to the plea agreement.
Warsame has been in custody since Dec. 8, 2003. He was first held as a material witness, then indicted six weeks later.
Until Wednesday, Warsame had said he never knowingly attended an al-Qaida training camp. At a hearing earlier this month, Warsame told U.S. District Court Judge John Tunheim he should be released until trial.
"This is unfair, sir. I've been here a long time," he said.
Tunheim hadn't ruled on the motion by Warsame's attorneys before Wednesday's plea agreement was announced.
Source: Star Tribune, May 20, 2009