CLEVELAND — Three Ohio men were convicted Friday of plotting to recruit and train terrorists to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq, a case built with help from an ex-soldier who posed as a radical bent on violence.
Mohammad Amawi, 28, Marwan El-Hindi, 45, and Wassim Mazloum, 27, face maximum sentences of life in prison. Prosecutors said the men were learning to shoot guns and make explosives while raising money to fund their plans to wage a holy war against U.S. troops.
The federal jury in Toledo returned its verdict after three days of deliberations. U.S. District Judge James Carr did not set a sentencing date, said acting U.S. Attorney Bill Edwards.
At trial the defense claimed that the three defendants, who all lived in the Toledo area, were manipulated by the government’s star witness, Darren Griffin, an undercover FBI informant.
