Probation in money transfer case with St. Louis ties

St. Louis Today
Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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ST. LOUIS • A Minneapolis man was sentenced in federal court in St. Louis Tuesday to three years of probation for trying to conceal the transmittal of $21,000 to Kenya and Somalia.

Abdi Mahdi Hussein, 36, helped a St. Louis cabdriver, Mohamud Abdi Yusuf, 31, send the money overseas in small transactions and using false identification to attempt to avoid detection.

Yusuf pleaded guilty Nov. 3 to conspiracy and providing material support to a designated terrorist organization, the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab, although the al-Shabaab money did not go through Hussein.

Hussein lawyer Larry Hale emphasized the lack of a connection to al-Shabaab in his remarks to U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey, saying, “He had nothing to do with al-Shabaab. Had no knowledge of al-Shabaab.”

Hale said Hussein, who has a wife and young daughter living in Kenya, was on the verge of becoming a U.S. citizen before the criminal case, and still hoped to do so.

Yusuf's sentencing will occur later this year. Authorities are still seeking the extradition of another co-defendant, Duane Mohamed Diriye, from Kenya.

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