ATLANTA — A 23-year-old Georgia man was convicted Wednesday of aiding terrorist groups by sending videotapes of U.S. landmarks overseas and plotting to support “violent jihad.”
Jurors rejected his arguments that it was empty talk.
The jury in U.S. District Court found Ehsanul Islam Sadequee guilty of all four charges he faced after about five hours of deliberations. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 15.
Authorities say Sadequee never posed an imminent threat to the U.S. but took concrete steps to bolster terrorists when he sent the videos overseas and tried to aid a Pakistani-based terrorist group while on a trip to Bangladesh.
Sadequee, who stared silently as the verdict was read, is the second Georgia terrorism suspect to be convicted in the past two months. A judge convicted Sadequee’s friend Syed Haris Ahmed in June on one count of conspiring to support terrorism in the U.S. and abroad.
Sadequee’s relatives, who regularly packed the courtroom during the week-long trial, said the conviction was an example of overzealous prosecution in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Sadequee’s sister Sonali said she was “absolutely disappointed” by the jury’s decision.
“What’s most frustrating (is) to see that the post-Sept. 11 climate, even though Obama has communicated there’s going to be a shift, it hasn’t really gone down to the general understanding of the community and social attitudes,” she said.
But federal authorities say it was a reminder that those who actively seek to aid terrorist groups may lurk in the U.S. They said they had little choice but to snuff out a potential plot before it came to fruition.
“We can wait until something happens, or gets close to happening,” U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said. “But I think we all learned on Sept. 11, 2001, not to do that.”
Sadequee, who represented himself at trial, dismissed his online discussions about jihad as boastful chatter from a group of young men “who type faster than they think.”
“We were immature young guys who had imaginations running wild,” Sadequee told jurors in his closing arguments Tuesday. “But I was not then, and am not now, a terrorist.”
Prosecutors depicted Sadequee as a dangerous terrorist wannabe who needed to be stopped before he took action. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McBurney said authorities had “overwhelming” evidence that Sadequee took concrete steps to aid terrorist organizations.
