U.S. Court Cases of Terrorism

Name Affiliation  Description

Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic Army 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Lawsuit arising out of the terrorist attacks on 9-11. Defendants include the Rabita Trust, International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), and Abdurahman Alamoudi.

Boim, et al. v. QLI, et al. 

 Hamas  [NDIL] The parents of David Boim, a 17-year old New Yorker who was killed in a Hamas terrorist attack in the West Bank, filed a lawsuit against U.S.-based organizations and individuals that provided support and contributions to Hamas.

Ellis, et al. v.Iran, et al. 

 Hamas  [DDC] American victims of a triple Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem filed a lawsuit against Hamas and the government of Iran.

Holy Land Foundation v. Ashcroft, et al. 

 Hamas  [DDC] On December 4, 2001, the U.S. Treasury designated the Holy Land Foundation as a terrorist organization and blocked its assets. In a lawsuit filed in March 2002, the Islamic charity challenged its designation as a terrorist organization and the resulting blocking of its assets.

Infocom 

 Hamas  [NDTX] The Elashi brothers and their webhosting company, Infocom, were convicted of laundering money for Hamas chief Musa abu Marzook and violating sanctions against Libya and Syria. They received sentences ranging from four to seven years in prison.</< td>

Iran, et al. v. Heiser, et al. 

 Hizballah  [DDC] In September 2000, a lawsuit was brought against the Islamic Republic of Iran by family members and estates of servicemen killed in the 1996 terrorist attack on Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing complex near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Marzook, Salah, Ashqar 

 Hamas  [NDIL] Senior Hamas operatives, Muhammad Salah and Abdel Haleem al-Ashqar, along with Deputy Political Leader of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook, were indicted on Hamas-related racketeering charges in Chicago in August 2004. Salah was sentenced to 21 months and Ashqar to 11 years in prison.

O'Neill v. Al Baraka, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Lawsuit by estate of former head of FBI counterterrorism division, killed in World Trade Center on 9-11. Defendants include the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

PA v. Saperstein, et al. 

 Al Aqsa Brigades  [SDFL] A U.S. district court in Miami ruled the Palestinian Authority (PA) pay Moshe Saperstein $16 million. Saperstein, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, was attacked in 2002 by the Al Aqsa Brigades, a Palestinian terrorist organization backed by the PA.

Ramadan, et al. v. Chertoff, et al. 

 Other  [SDNY] Tariq Ramadan,a Swiss-national and Muslim Brotherhood-linked professor, sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over revocation of his U.S. visa.

State of Michigan v. Zorkot 

 Hizballah  [Michigan] Houssein Zorkot, a medical student at Wayne State in Dearborn, Michigan, was charged on multiple felony charges, including carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent. A Web site created by Zorkot contains videos and other propaganda materials related to Hizballah.

State v. Taheri-Azar 

 Other  [North Carolina] Charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Taheri-Azar drove a rented Jeep through a crowd of students at University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, claiming that he was trying to avenge the deaths of Muslims overseas.

U.S.A. v. Bushnaq 

 Hamas and Muslim Brotherhood  [EDVA] Former president of the Islamic Association for Palestine charged with immigration fraud for, amongst other ommissions on his immigration forms, failure to disclose assocations with organizations associated with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

USA v Bin Laden, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Osama bin Laden was convicted along with five other defendants for the 1998 Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzinia.

USA v Rahman, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Omar Ahmad Abdel Rahman, the "Blind Sheikh," spiritual leader of the group who perpetrated the 1993 World Trade Center attack, is serving a life sentence for his role in planning terrorist attacks on New York City landmarks.

USA v Shnewer, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [DNJ] In May 2007, Mohamed Ibrahim Shnewer and four other defendants were charged with plotting to kill soldiers at the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey. A sixth defendant, Agron Abdullahu, was charged with aiding and abetting the illegal possession of firearms. Abdullahu has pleaded guilty to the gun charge of supplying guns to illegal aliens.

USA v. Reynolds 

 Al Qaeda  [MDPA] A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Pennsylvania charged Michael Curtis Reynolds with offering to help al Qaeda blow up oil pipelines and refineries, a plot he allegedly hatched in a Yahoo Internet chat group.

USA v. Abdhir et al. 

 Jemaah Islamiyah  [NDCA] Rahmat Abdhir (a.k.a. Sean Kasem) was indicted for providing material support to a terrorist, his brother Zulkifli Abdhir. Zulkifli Abdhir is senior member of Al Qaeda-affiliated Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian terrorist group.

USA v. Abdi 

 Al Qaeda  [SDOH] In June 2004, Nuradin Abdi was indicted on four counts including conspiracy to blow up a Columbus, Ohio shopping mall with admitted al Qaeda terrorist, Iyman Faris. Abdi pled guilty to conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in November 2007.

USA v. Abu Ali 

 Al Qaeda  [EDVA] In 2005, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali was convicted on all 9 charges he faced, including providing material support to Al Qaeda and conspiracy to assassinate the President of the United States. Abu Ali was sentenced to 30 years in prison in April 2006.

USA v. Abu-Jihaad 

 Taliban  [DCT] In March 2008, Hassan Abu-Jihaad, a former member of the U.S. Navy, was found guilty of providing material support to terrorism and disclosing previously classified information relating to the national defense as part of a larger conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens.

USA v. Ahmad 

 Taliban  [CDC] In October 2004, Babar Ahmad was indicted on multiple counts, including conspiracy to provide material support to the Taliban. The indictment alleges that Ahmad used websites to promote jihad.

USA v. Ahmed, et al. 

 Al Qaeda, Lashkar e Taiba  [NDGA] Syed Ahmed and another defendant were charged with conspiring to and providing material support to terrorism and to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

USA v. Ahsan 

 Al Qaeda  [DCT] Charged with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to individuals engaged in jihad in Chechnya and Afghanistan through maintaining jihadist websites, including expert advice on military equipment.

USA v. Al Badawi, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Al-Badawi was indicted for his role in the bombing of the USS Cole, which killed 17 American sailors on October 12, 2000. He was tried for the same crime in Yemen and sentenced to death on September 29, 2004.

USA v. Al Hussayen 

 Hamas  [DID] In March 2004, Sami Omar Al Hussayen, a Saudi national and University of Idaho student, was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas and other violent jihadists through his work at the Islamic Assembly of North America and Al-Haramain.

USA v. Al Moayad, et al. 

 Al Qaeda, Hamas  [EDNY] In March 2005, Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad was convicted of attempting to funnel millions of dollars to Hamas and Al Qaeda.

USA v. Al Suwailem 

 Other  [MDGA] Al Suwailem, an Arabic interpreter at Ft. Benning, Georgia was charged with threatening to place an explosive device on a plane.

USA v. Al Timimi 

 Taliban  [EDVA] Ali Al Timimi was the spiritual leader of the "Virginia Paintball Jihad" network. In April 2005, he was convicted of inciting terrorist activity and sentenced to life in prison.

USA v. Al-Hanooti, Muthanna 

 Other  [EDMI] A federal indictment in March 2008 accused Muthanna Al-Hanooti of working as a spy for the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein. Al-Hanooti worked for Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), a Southfield charity raided by federal agents in September 2006. He earlier headed the Michigan branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).

USA v. Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [DOR] In February 2005 a federal grand jury charged Al Haramain Islamic Foundation and two of its employees, Pirouz Sedaghaty and Soliman Al-Buthe, with bank fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. Various branches of the Saudi-based charity were designated by the US in June 2004 based on evidence of the charity's ties to al Qaeda. The US-based branch of the charity in Ashland, Oregon, along with one of its directors, Suliman Al-Buthe, was designated in September 2004.

USA v. Alamoudi 

 Al Qaeda  [EDVA] Former head of American Muslim Council sentenced to 23 years in prison for illegal financial dealings with Libya. Alamoudi also confessed to taking part in a Libyan plot to assassinate the then Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

USA v. Ali, et al. 

 Other  [EDCA] Amen Ahmed Ali and two associates were charged with transmitting defense secrets and exporting military equipment to Yemen.

USA v. Alishtari 

 Other  [SDNY] In February 2007, a federal grand jury charged Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari with terrorism financing and perpetrating massive investment fraud, including sending money to Afghanistan and Pakistan to help train terrorists.

USA v. Alomari, et al. 

 Hizballah  [WDNY] A February 2007 federal complaint accused Yehia Ali Ahmed Alomari and two other Yemeni men who ran groceries in Rochester, New York, of illegally sending money overseas to benefit the terrorist organization Hizballah.

USA v. Amawi, et al. 

 Other  [NDOH] Mohammad Zaki Amawi and four other defendants were charged with conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas. A second indictment charged Bilal Mazloum with making a false statement during the terrorism investigation and another s

USA v. Amawi, et. al. 

 Iraqi Insurgency  [NDOH] In February 2007, a superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Cleveland charged Mohammad Amawi and four others with conspiring to commit terrorist acts against Americans overseas, including U.S. military personnel in Iraq. A separate indictment charged Bilal Mazloum with making a false statement to federal agents in February 2006.

USA v. Aref, et al. 

 Jaish e Mohammed  [NDNY] In October 2006, two Albany mosque leaders were convicted of conspiracy to purchase a surface-to-air missile for use in a terrorist attack in New York City and money laundering.

USA v. Arnaout 

 Bosnian and Chechen Mujahideen  [NDIL] Enaam Arnaout pled guilty to perjury and fraud, admitting he used his charity, Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), to support fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya.

USA v. Aswat Haroon Rashid 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Aswat Haroon Rashid faces extradition to the US from the UK on charges relating to setting up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon, and providing aid to Al Qaeda. He is also alleged to be the mastermind behind the July 7 London explosions.

USA v. Babar 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Mohammed Junaid Babar pled guilty in 2004 to five counts of conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. Babar also admitted to providing supplies to an al Qaeda official in Pakistan.

USA v. Batiste, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [SDFL] Narseal Batiste and six other suspected al Qaeda sympathizers were indicted on charges of plotting to attack targets, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and the FBI building in North Miami Beach, Florida.

USA v. Battle, et al. 

 Al Qaeda, Taliban  [DOR] In 2003, Jeffrey Battle and Patrice Lumumba Ford of the "Portland 7" pled guilty to conspiracy to levy war against the U.S., conspiring to travel to Afghanistan to fight alongside Al Qaeda and the Taliban.

USA v. Baz Mohammad, et al. 

 Taliban  [SDNY] Baz Mohammad is an Afghan drug lord who pled guilty in July 2006 to smuggling heroin into the United States. Prosecutors said he had provided financial support to the Taliban.

USA v. Benkahla 

 Lashkar e Taiba  [EDVA] "Virginia Jihad" member convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in case related to training with LeT in jihad camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

USA v. Biheiri, Soliman 

 Hamas  [EDVA] In October 2004 a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, convicted Soliman Biheiri for illegally concealing his extensive business and social relationship with Mousa Abu Marzook, a designated terrorist and leader of Hamas. Biheiri was also known to have ties to senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

USA v. Brent 

 Lashkar e Taiba  [SDNY] Mahmud Faruq Brent is a Maryland paramedic who was arrested on charges of conspiring to provide material support to the Pakistan-based Lashkar e Taiba. Brent allegedly attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan. In July 2007, Brent was sentenced to 15 years for providing material support to a terrorist organization.

USA v. Bushnaq 

 Islamic Association for Palestine, Hamas  [EDVA] Yaser Bushnaq, a former president of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), was indicted for naturalization fraud. IAP, a fundraising arm for Hamas in the U.S., was shut down in 2005.

USA v. Chahine et al. 

 Hizballah  [EDMI] Detroit-area based Talal Khalil Chahine and his wife Elfat el Aouar are each charged with four counts of tax evasion. In subsequent indictments Chahine has also been charged with extortion and citizenship fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office filed documents stating that Talal Chahine has high-level connections to Hizballah.

USA v. Chandia, et al. 

 Lashkar e Taiba  [EDVA] Ali Asad Chandia, a member of the "Virginia Paintball Jihad" network, was found guilty in June 2006 of providing material support to LeT. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

USA v. Damrah 

 Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)  [NDOH] Fawaz Damrah, the former imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, was convicted in 2004 of lying on his citizenship application and failing to disclose his links to PIJ and other groups. Damrah was stripped of his U.S. citizenship.

USA v. Darwishahmad 

 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)  [WDTN] Bassam Darwishahmad was indicted for not disclosing to immigration authorities that he was recruited by an arm of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1990 to bomb an Israeli police station in Nablus, West Bank.

USA v. Defreitas, et al. 

 Other  [EDNY] Four individuals were charged on June 2, 2007 with conspiring to attack New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The plot involved an international network of Muslim extremists from the U.S., Guyana, and Trinidad.

USA v. Delaema 

 Other  [DDC] Wesam Al Delaema, an Iraqi-born Dutch national, was extradited from the Netherlands to the U.S. in January 2007 to face charges in a federal court in Washington, DC, for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to attack Americans based in Iraq.

USA v. Dhafir 

 Help the Needy Endowment, Inc.  [NDNY] In February 2005, Rafil Dhafir was convicted on charges of money laundering and participating in a conspiracy to use his charity, "Help the Needy," to funnel money to Iraq in violation of U.S. sanctions. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

USA v. Elfgeeh, et al. 

 Al Qaeda, Hamas  [EDNY] Aref Elfgeeh was found guilty on all five charges related to the funneling of $20 million to Al Qaeda and Hamas through his Brooklyn-based ice cream shop.

USA v. Elzahabi 

 Al Qaeda  [DMN] In March 2008 Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi was sentenced to time served in jail for possessing fraudulent immigration documents. An FBI affidavit alleged that Elzahabi attended a jihadi training camp, taught as a sniper in Afghanistan for al Qaeda, and has connections to high-ranking members of the terrorist organization.

USA v. Farhane 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] On April 16, 2007, a Manhattan federal court sentenced Abdelrahman Farhane to 13 years in prison for conspiring to provide funds to jihadists in Chechnya and Afghanistan and for making false statements in connection with a terrorism investigation.

USA v. Faris 

 Al Qaeda  [EDVA] In 2003, Faris, a Kashmiri native, pled guilty to an al Qaeda plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge. Faris met with Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda leaders in a jihad training camp in Afghanistan in 2000.

USA v. Gadahn 

 Al Qaeda  [CDCA] In October 2006, American citizen Adam Yahiye Gadahn, suspected of appearing in Al Qaeda propaganda tapes as "Azzam the American," was indicted on charges of treason and providing material support to Al Qaeda.

USA v. Grecula 

 Al Qaeda  [SDTX] On February 9, 2007 Ronald Allen Grecula was sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to build and offering to sell an explosive device to a terrorist group he believed was affilated with Al Qaeda for use against Americans.

USA v. Hammoud, et al. 

 Hizballah  [WDNC] In March 2001, a superseding indictment charged 25 individuals with cigarette smuggling, money laundering, credit card fraud, marriage fraud and immigration violations. Additionally, four individuals were charged with providing material support to Hizballah. Mohamad Hammoud was sentenced to 155 years in prison.

USA v. Hashmi 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] Syed Hashmi (a.k.a. "Fahad) was charged with supplying money and military gear to Al Qaeda to fight American forces in Afghanistan.

USA v. Hayat 

 Al Qaeda  [EDCA] Umer and Hamid Hayat, father and son in Lodi, California, convicted of providing material support to Al Qaeda and making false statements to the government. Hamid Hayat was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

USA v. Holy Land Foundation 

 Hamas  [NDTX] Richardson, Texas-based Muslim charity indicted, along with several of the group's leaders, for funneling millions of dollars to the terrorist group Hamas. The judge declared a mistrial: The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on any count with respect to five defendants; with respect to one defendant, Mohamed El-Mezain, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on count one which charged him with conspiracy to provide material support and resources to Hamas.

USA v. IARA, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [WDMO] The Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA) and several of its former employees and associates were indicted for illegally transferring funds to Iraq, falsely denying that an associate of Osama bin Laden had been an employee of IARA, and engaging in prohibited financial transactions for the benefit of U.S.-designated terrorist Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Former U.S. Congressman Mark Deli Siljander was also charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in the case.

USA v. Idais 

 Hamas  [EDPA] Convicted of knowingly lying on a student visa application about membership in Hamas. Despite denial, Idais admitted he admired Hamas' "focus" on the killing of Jews.

USA v. Iqbal, et al. 

 Hizballah  [SDNY] A federal indictment unsealed in November 2006 charged Javed Iqbal and an associate with enabling satellite broadcasts in the U.S. by Al Manar, a television station controlled by Hizballah.

USA v. Isa 

 Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)  [NDIL] Tariq Isa, leader of a Chicago mosque linked to Sami al-Arian and PIJ, pled guilty to a conspiracy to distribute psuedoephidrine knowing it would be used to make methamphetamine. Isa was sentenced to 235 months in prison.

USA v. Jaber 

 Palestinian Islamic Jihad  [WDARK] Jaber was convicted in 2006 of falsely obtaining credit cards and making false statements on his naturalization forms. Jaber told his professor he was leaving school to fight for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

USA v. Jamal 

 Other  [DAZ] Samih Jamal was convicted of operating a multi-million dollar fencing operation involving stolen baby formula and money laundering in the United States and Lebanon.

USA v. James, et al. 

 Jamiyaat ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS)  [CDCA] Four men indicted on charges of conspiracy to levy a war against the U.S. government. Kevin James, along with several Folsom prison inmates, established a terror cell to attack military recruitment centers, the Israeli consulate and synagogues. In December 2007, two of the defendants, Kevin James and Levar Washington, pled guilty to federal terrorism charges.

USA v. Kassir, et al. 

 Al Qaeda  [SDNY] An indictment returned by a federal grand jury in New York on September 25, 2007, charges Oussama Kassir, Mustafa Kamel Mustafa (a.k.a. "Abu Hamza"), and Haroon Rashid Aswat of conspiring to provide material support and resources to Al Qaeda, including plotting to establish a jihad training camp in Bly, Oregon.

USA v. Khadr 

 Al Qaeda, Taliban  [DMA] Khadr, the son of a close associate of Osama bin Laden, allegedly smuggled munitions to Al Qaeda. In February 2006, Khadr was charged with conspiracy to commit murder abroad, conspiracy to use WMD and conspiracy to possess a destructive device.

USA v. Khalil 

 Hizballah  [SDNY] Naji Khalil pled guilty to conspiring to provide Hizballah with night vision goggles and infrared aiming devices.

USA v. Kourani 

 Hizballah  [EDMI] Kourani pled guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to Hizballah and was sentenced to 54 months in prison in June 2006. A trained Hizballah fighter, Kourani illegally crossed the Mexican border on his way to Dearborn, Michigan.

USA v. Lindh 

 Al Qaeda, Taliban  [EDVA] Walker Lindh is an American citizen, captured when U.S. forces entered Afghanistan in 2001. Lindh pled guilty to charges of serving in the Taliban army and carrying weapons. He is serving 20 years in prison.

USA v. Maldonado 

 Al Qaeda  [SDTX] On February 13, 2007, Daniel Joseph Maldonado was charged with receiving training from Al Qaeda to "fight jihad" in Somalia. In January 2007, Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military as he tried to flee Somalia and extradited to the U.S.

USA v. Malki 

 Iraqi insurgency  [EDNY] Noureddine Malki pled guilty to using a false identity to obtain a position as an Arabic translator with the U.S. Army and for illegally procuring classified national defense documents concerning the Iraqi insurgency.

USA v. Mohamed, et al. 

 Other  [MDFL] Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed are charged with making and distributing an instructional video on how to make full-sized remote control car bombs.

USA v. Mokhtar 

 Al Qaeda  [DNJ] Mazen Mokhtar was charged with tax evasion and filing false tax returns. Mokhtar earlier operated a Web site, identified in a July 2004 affidavit, which solicited funds for the Taliban and Chechen mujahideen.

USA v. Moussaoui 

 Al Qaeda  [EDVA] On May 4, 2006, Moussaoui was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Moussaoui claimed at various points in his trial to be the 20th 9/11 hijacker, though he later recanted this, saying he was part of another al Qaeda plot.

USA v. Moussaoui 

 Other  [MDFL] Karim Moussaoui was found guilty of knowingly possessing a firearm in violation of the terms of his student's visa. Moussaoui is linked to University of Southern California (USF) students, Ahmed Mohamed and Youssef Megahed, who are charged with making and distributing an instructional video on how to make full-sized remote control car bombs.

USA v. Mustafa 

 Other  [SDNY] Kamel Mustafa (a.k.a Abu Hamza al-Masri), the hook-handed cleric was convicted in the U.K. for incitement to race hatred and murder. The U.S. is attempting to extradite him on charges of hostage taking and setting up a terrorist training camp in Bly, Oregon.

USA v. Padilla, Hassoun, Jayyousi