Ehsanul Sadequee
| Ehsanul Sadequee | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 30, 1986 (age 37) Fairfax, Virginia, U.S. |
| Other names | Shifa |
| Criminal charge | 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests *making a false statement to law enforcement |
| Criminal penalty | Sentenced to 17 years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release[1] |
| Conviction(s) | 2009 |
Ehsanul "Shifa" Sadequee (born July 30, 1986, in Fairfax, Virginia)[2] is an American who was arrested by the FBI on four terrorism charges, convicted, and sentenced to 17 years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release.[2][3]
Contents
Life
Sadequee lived with his mother, brother, and sister at the family home in Roswell, Georgia.[2]
In December 2001, while living in Bangladesh, he tried to join the Taliban, to assist them in fighting against U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. He and Syed Haris Ahmed began discussing their obligation to support jihad in late 2004. He became active on several web forums that support jihad, and discussions grew into an active conspiracy with others to provide material support to terrorists engaged in violent jihad.[1]
In March 2005, Sadequee and Ahmed both traveled to Toronto aboard a Greyhound bus, to meet with Fahim Ahmad, Jahmaal James and another youth,[4] who they had spoken to online about their mutual interpretations about Islam and jihad.[5] While the group discussed hypothetical scenarios in which North America was attacked, the government noted there was "no imminent danger". Police informant Mubin Shaikh later stated that he believed the two Americans had been asking whether they would be able to hide in Canada if they were to carry out attacks in the United States.[5]
On August 18, 2005, he travelled to his ancestral home of Bangladesh seeking a wife. At New York John F. Kennedy Airport, he agreed to be interviewed by two Joint Terrorism Task Force agents prior to departing. When questioned about the bus trip, Sadequee lied and said he had traveled alone and stayed with his aunt Manju in the city, rather than with the subject of a Canadian anti-terrorism investigation.[2] Upon searching his luggage, the agents discovered two CD-ROMs hidden in the lining of his suitcase.
While in Bangladesh, he married a woman two years older than he was, and upon returning to the United States at some point in 2006, she took a job working at Wendy's.[2][6]
His story, including interviews with his family and former counter-terrorism officials, is told in the February 2016 HBO Documentary Homegrown.
Arrest
After the Toronto terror arrests in June 2006, he was charged with making a false statement for his lie in the airport about the bus trip, and placed under arrest.
In a bail hearing for Sadequee, prosecutors alleged that both men traveled to Washington, D.C. to make "casing videos" of the United States Capitol building, the World Bank, a Masonic temple and a fuel depot, and that Sadequee had then sent the video to Irhabi007 of London who in 2007 was found guilty of incitement to commit acts of terrorism and sentenced to 16 years in prison.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/December/09-nsd-1338.html
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 United States of America -against- Ensanul Islam Sadequee, Affidavit in support of arrest warrant by Michael Scherck, March 28, 2006
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 CBC, Among the Believers; Timeline
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 PBS, Frontline, Canada: The Cell Next Door, January 30, 2007
- ↑ Transcript of bail hearing, May 1, 2006
External links
| Charges dropped | |
|---|---|
| Suspects who were found guilty | |
 American cell |
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| Defense attorneys | |
 CSIS informants |
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| Other | |
