California Man Charged with Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to al Shabaab

SAN DIEGO—An indictment was unsealed today in the Southern District of California charging Anaheim resident Ahmed Nasir Taalil Mohamud, 35, with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced.

Mohamud appeared today in federal court in San Diego, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan M. Adler arraigned him on the indictment and ordered him held without bail pending a detention hearing on Dec. 7, 2010, at 2:00 p.m.

According to the indictment, returned on Nov. 19, 2010 and unsealed today, Mohamud conspired with Basaaly Saeed Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh to provide money to al Shabaab, a violent and brutal militia group in Somalia. In February 2008, the U.S. Department of State designated al Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization.

The indictment alleges that al Shabaab has used assassinations, improvised explosive devices, rockets, mortars, automatic weapons, suicide bombings, and other tactics of intimidation and violence to undermine Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government and its supporters.

According to court records, Moalin, Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, and Issa Doreh are charged with the same offenses in a separate indictment already pending in federal court in San Diego.

The arrest of Mohamud arises from an investigation that involves the Orange County Joint Terrorism Task Force, the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection.

The charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to kill in a foreign country carries maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

An indictment itself is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.