OKLAHOMA CITY — Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 35, a citizen of
Saudi Arabia and a former resident of Weatherford, Oklahoma, has been sentenced
to 151 months in federal prison for making a false statement to the FBI about
his attendance at an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in late 2000, as
well as for visa fraud.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C.
Demers, United States Attorney Timothy J. Downing of the Western District of
Oklahoma, Special Agent-in-Charge Melissa R. Godbold of the FBI’s Oklahoma City
Division, and Special Agent-in-Charge Ryan Spradlin of Homeland Security Investigations
(HSI) made the announcement.
"The U.S. Government identified the defendant after
finding his fingerprints on an application to join al Qaeda that the U.S.
military had gathered from the battlefields of Afghanistan," said
Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the National Security
Division. "We were able to match
those fingerprints with fingerprints taken for his U.S. visa application and to
determine that he had made false statements in that application in order to
conceal his attendance at an al Qaeda training camp in 2000. With the sentence imposed today, he will be
held accountable for his crime and removed from the country. I want to thank the military personnel,
agents, analysts, and prosecutors whose dedication is responsible for this
case."
"This case required thorough investigation and careful
coordination among agents and prosecutors in a matter that is our highest
priority—terrorism," said U.S. Attorney Downing. "We are fortunate to have dedicated,
effective federal law enforcement looking out for potential threats to public
safety in Oklahoma."
"This investigation highlights the ongoing efforts of
the FBI’s Oklahoma City Joint Terrorism Task Force. Together with our federal, state, and local
law enforcement partners, the FBI is committed to defending the American people
against potential acts of terrorism.
Today’s sentencing is a reminder that protecting the United States from
the threat of terrorism remains the FBI's number one priority," said
Special Agent-in-Charge Melissa Godbold of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field
Office.
HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Spradlin said: “Our ongoing
fight against terrorists depends upon our partnerships with many law
enforcement agencies and sometimes takes years.
However, the United States has the resources, the will, and the patience
to identify and pursue terrorists—despite the lies they tell to hide
themselves. Homeland Security
Investigations frequently plays a key role in identifying and locating
terrorists in our midst.”
On February 5, 2018, Alfallaj was taken into custody by the
FBI without incident, based on a criminal complaint signed in the Western
District of Oklahoma. According to the
complaint, the FBI found 15 of Alfallaj’s fingerprints on an application to an
al Qaeda training camp, known as al Farooq, which was one of al Qaeda’s key
training sites in Afghanistan leading up to the attacks of September 11,
2001. The document was recovered by the
U.S. military from an al Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan and included an
emergency contact number associated with Alfallaj’s father in Saudi Arabia.
Alfallaj first entered the U.S. in late 2011 on a
nonimmigrant visa based on his wife’s status as a foreign student. He answered several questions on his visa
application falsely, including whether he had ever supported terrorists or
terrorist organizations. Alfallaj has
been detained in federal custody since his arrest.
On February 6, 2018, a grand jury in Oklahoma City returned
a three-count indictment against Alfallaj.
Count One alleged that from March 2012 to the present, he possessed a
visa obtained by fraud. Count Two
alleged he used that visa in October 2016 to apply for lessons at a private
flight school in Oklahoma. Count Three
charged him with making a false statement to the FBI in an investigation of an
offense involving international terrorism by denying, among other things, that
he had ever visited Afghanistan.
Alfallaj pleaded guilty to Counts One and Three on December
14, 2018. In particular, he admitted he
possessed a nonimmigrant visa from March 2012 to early 2018 that he obtained by
fraud. He also admitted he falsely told
federal agents during the December 2017 interview that he had never visited
Afghanistan or participated in religious, tactical, or military training
outside Saudi Arabia, and otherwise affirmed falsely that all of the answers on
his nonimmigrant visa application were true and correct. As part of his plea agreement, Alfallaj
consented to the entry of a stipulated judicial order of removal from the
United States at the end of any prison term.
Today, U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk sentenced Alfallaj
to 151 months in prison. This consists
of 120 months—the statutory maximum—for visa fraud and 96 months—also the
statutory maximum—for making a false statement.
The court announced that 31 months of the false-statement sentence will
run consecutive to the visa-fraud sentence, for a total incarceration period of
151 months. In reaching this sentence,
the court took into account Alfallaj’s pattern of deceptive statements and his
inquiry on an online forum in 2013 about participating in fighting in
Afghanistan or Chechnya, in which he used his nickname from the al Farooq
camp. At the conclusion of the hearing,
the judge signed the stipulated order of removal.
This case is the result of an investigation by the
FBI-Oklahoma City Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes members from the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, the
Transportation Security Administration, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the
University of Oklahoma Police Department, the Oklahoma City Police Department,
and the Edmond Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Dillon of the Western District of Oklahoma
and Trial Attorneys David C. Smith and C. Alexandria Bogle of the National
Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section prosecuted the case.
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