OKLAHOMA CITY — Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 35, a citizen of
Saudi Arabia and a former resident of Weatherford, Oklahoma, has pleaded guilty
to visa fraud and making a false statement to the FBI by, among other things,
concealing his application to and attendance at an al Qaeda training camp in
Afghanistan in late 2000.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C.
Demers, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester of the Western
District of Oklahoma, and Special Agent in Charge Kathryn Peterson of the FBI’s
Oklahoma City Division made the announcement.
"Protecting our national security is the highest
priority of the Department of Justice," said Mr. Troester. "I commend the outstanding efforts of
the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for its collaborative and focused work in
this investigation."
"This investigation highlights the ongoing, coordinated
efforts of the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force to protect and defend the
American people against any potential acts of terror," said Kathryn
Peterson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Division.
On Feb. 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. The document was
recovered by the U.S. military from an al Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan. The document is also alleged to include an
emergency contact number associated with Alfallaj’s father in Saudi
Arabia. Alfallaj is alleged to have
first entered the U.S. in late 2011 on a nonimmigrant visa based on his wife’s
status as a foreign student. According
to the complaint, 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 Feb. 5.
On Feb. 6, a grand jury returned a three-count indictment
against Alfallaj. The indictment charged
two counts of visa fraud. Count One
alleged that from March 2012 to the present, Alfallaj 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. The third count charged him
with making a false statement to the FBI involving an offense of international
terrorism, when he denied ever having associated with anyone from a foreign
terrorist group.
At today’s hearing, Alfallaj pleaded guilty to one count of
visa fraud and one count of making a false statement to the FBI relating to
international terrorism. 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 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.
Alfallaj faces up to ten years in prison on the visa-fraud
offense. He faces up to eight years in
prison for making a false statement involving international terrorism. He could also be fined up to $250,000 on each
count. 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 his prison term. The Court will set a sentencing date in
approximately 90 days. The maximum
sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational
purposes. Any sentencing of the
defendant will be determined by the court, based on the advisory Sentencing
Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI 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 Attorney David C. Smith of
the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the
case.
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