Lawyers for two mosque leaders convicted on money laundering charges in a fake missile plot argued that the government unfairly entrapped their clients, but a prosecutor said the men knew what they were doing when they committed their crimes.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals listened to arguments Monday on behalf of Yassin Aref, imam at an Albany mosque, and Mohammed Hossain, a pizzeria owner who attended the mosque, but did not immediately rule.
The mosque was raided by the FBI in August 2004 after a yearlong investigation.
The men were convicted of laundering money through fake loans from 2003 to 2004 for a Pakistani businessman and FBI informant posing as an arms dealer. Each was sentenced last year to 15 years in prison.
Lawyers for both men said the government unfairly targeted their clients in a rush to build terrorism cases after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Aref's lawyer, Terence Kindlon, said his client became a target of the U.S. government when a word before his name on a slip of paper in an Iraqi training camp for militants was thought to mean "commander" when it actually was an innocuous term equivalent to "Mr."
He said the FBI relied on an informant who delivered an "improbable story badly told."
Hossain's lawyer, Kevin Luibrand, said his client never tried to hide the money because he was not laundering it.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Pericek said the sting was successful because Hossain was motivated by greed and Aref was motivated by sympathy for those willing to carry out terrorist acts.
He said Aref knew the plot involved plans to use a shoulder-fired missile in New York City. The plot was a fictional part of the sting operation.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/24/america/NA-GEN-US-Mosque-Raid.php
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