Fil-Am faces 15 years in US prison over alleged terror plot  

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Filipino citizen and legal U.S. resident Ralph Kenneth De Leon, 25, stands trial at the federal court here along with three other suspects charged with alleged terrorist activities.

“We don’t comment while trials are ongoing,” Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Philippine News. “I can tell you that the government is expected to rest late this week and then the defense will present its case.” Presiding Judge is Virginia Phillips.

On Nov. 16, 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorist Task Force arrested De Leon of Ontario, Calif.; Mexican-born Miguel Santana, 23, of Upland, Calif.; and Vietnamese American David Gojali, 23, of Riverside, while in their vehicle at an apartment complex in Chino, Calif., aborting their planned departure to Istanbul and on to Afghanistan, where they reportedly would have joined al-Qaeda and the Taliban to be trained as terrorists.

A fourth suspect, 36-year-old alleged jihadist and group leader Sohiel Omar Kabir, was arrested by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan the following day and brought back to the United States to face charges. The foiled plot allegedly sought to kill Americans and bomb U.S. bases abroad, including the Philippines.

The Philippine Consulate Los Angeles did not respond at press time as to what assistance they were providing to De Leon.

After De Leon was arrested, former Consul Charmaine Serna-Chua had visited him in jail and said 'he's physically all right and, surprisingly, he didn't seem depressed.'

Former Consul General Hellen Barber de la Vega stated then that she's 'monitoring the case very closely to ensure that the rights of Mr. de Leon are protected... One can't help but wonder what could've triggered such actions from these young men.'

Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia Jr. had 'hoped for more details about the reported terrorist plot from the FBI, particularly the plans of the suspects to mount attacks against U.S. targets in the Philippines.'

Prosecutors alleged that Kabir, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, persuaded De Leon, Santana and Gojali to travel to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban and later join al-Qaeda.

FBI spokesperson Laura Eimiller said based on a criminal complaint filed Nov. 19, 2012 with U.S. District Court, Central District of California, the defendants conspired to provide material support to terrorists in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2339A, “knowing or intending that such support was to be used in preparation for or in carrying out: conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons and damage property in a foreign country; killing and attempting to kill officers and employees of the United States; killing nationals of the United States; conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction outside the United States; and bombing places of public use and government facilities.”

Kabir and De Leon are facing five felony counts. If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.

Santana and Gojali had pleaded guilty and are expected to testify against De Leon and Kabir of Pomona.

De Leon and Santana had unknowingly told an FBI informant of their plan to travel to Afghanistan to engage in violent jihad and target overseas American military personnel and bases. The informant himself bought the plane tickets in Mexico for the trio’s Nov. 18, 2012 flight to Istanbul. He even accompanied De Leon on a trip July 2012 to Chicago, so De Leon could bid his mother goodbye and retrieve some of his personal belongings.

The son of a U.S. citizen, De Leon quit school and reportedly sold his car to raise money for the trip.

Trial

Mohammad Hammad accepted the government’s offer after his release from federal prison in 2007 as a paid FBI informant. He testified about defendants’ plan to travel overseas and commit violent jihad against U.S. targets.

Prosecutors presented audio and video evidence of the suspects plotting to leave the country which Judge Phillips said was ‘admissible.’

According to the L.A. Times, ‘defense attorneys argue that overzealous federal authorities misinterpreted the men’s sometimes immature actions as true threats, and said their clients never intended to actually join or assist terrorist groups.’

Defense attorneys also challenged video evidence reportedly taken from a hidden camera of the informant showing De Leon firing weapons at a range, saying that ‘only the informant could verify the authenticity of the video.’ The defense has subpoenaed the informant to appear.

David Thomas, who represents De Leon, said: “This was a very carefully planned out plot by the government from the investigation stage onwards. It was a manufactured prosecution, is our argument. They had their target two years ago and executed.”

The Los Angeles branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy organization, has asked the public for additional information they may have about the informant. It alleged that the frequent federal use of informants in terrorism cases can lead to entrapment of suspects.

“We've seen other communities targeted by the FBI with informants sent into communities and mosques,” Fatima Dadabhoy, senior civil rights lawyer for CAIR in Los Angeles, was quoted as saying. “I think what's important about not just this case but this issue in general is to make sure that when we are doing terrorism cases, we’re not using improper tactics.”

Background

De Leon immigrated to the United States in 2003. He enrolled in business administration at the California State University, San Bernardino, seven years ago but withdrew in September 2012, according to university spokesperson Joe Gutierrez.

Known by his aliases Rafiq Abdul Raheem and Ya Seen, De Leon converted to Islam in 2010. He had reportedly been in contact with Kabir online, where he expressed extremist views, and discussed violent jihad.

He had joined Skype conversations arranging meetings with other terrorists, posting radical content in Facebook where FBI undercover agents were able to join their online conversations.

De Leon himself told an FBI source that ‘he wanted to be on the front lines overseas and use C-4  explosive in an attack,’ according to Eimiller. The report further stated that De Leon and his co-defendants ‘were excited about the rewards from being a shaheed,’ Arabic for martyr.

Federal investigators said Kabir met De Leon and Santana, at a hookah bar (popular hang out where you smoke sweet tobacco from a water pipe) and introduced them to the writings of U.S. born radical Muslim cleric and al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki who was killed 2011 in an American airstrike in Yemen.

In September, De Leon and Santana allegedly recruited Gojali who agreed to join them on their overseas travel. Their plan was to attend terrorist training as well as kill American soldiers and others, according to FBI sources. Both indicated they were willing to kill an enemy. —Philippine News