US Man Pleads Guilty to Helping al-Qaeda

Al Jazeera reports: "A US man faces up to 15 years in prison after admitting to sending waterproof socks, ponchos and sleeping bags to al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

On the eve of his trial, Syed Hashmi, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide support to al-Qaeda in a district court in New York on Tuesday." 

Hashmi had faced up to 70 years in prison.

Trial of Syed Fahad Hashmi Begins Tomorrow in NYC

The trial begins 8:45am, April 28th, 2010 in the SDNY Courthouse, at 500 Pearl Street, Manhattan, NY.  His case will be heard by Judge Preska.  


Hashmi's former professor, Jeanne Theoharis reports on Slate that: "On Wednesday, an American citizen goes to trial, without the right to review all the evidence in his case and after three years of isolation. This is happening not in Guantanamo or even a military brig but in the Southern District of New York. Syed Fahad Hashmi, held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan, is charged with two counts of providing and conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaida and two counts of making and conspiring to make a contribution of goods or services to al-Qaida. If convicted, he faces 70 years in prison. His case represents the vast, baffling scope of this sort of criminal charge and the abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism right here at home..."