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, and 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 terror 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 September 2001 terrorist attacks.
“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,” said Sadequee’s sister, Sonali.
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.”
