The Associated Press
Friday, November 7, 2003; 10:57 AM
Three Sentenced in Paintball Terror Case
By JUSTIN BERGMAN
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Three men accused of practicing military tactics at
a paintball field outside Washington were sentenced to prison Friday
for their roles in a Virginia jihad network that trained members to
support a Pakistani terrorist group.
Yong Ki Kwon and Khwaja Mahmood Hasan of Fairfax, Va., and Donald T.
Surratt of Suitland, Md., pleaded guilty to conspiracy and gun charges
in August.
They were part of a group of 11 men accused of training at the
paintball field to support Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Muslim extremist group
trying to oust India from the disputed region of Kashmir.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema sentenced Hasan on Friday to 11
1/4 years in prison, Yong to 11 1/2 years, and Surratt to three years
and 10 months. Hasan and Yong could faced up to life in prison, while
Surratt could have faced up to 15 years.
"At best, what Hasan and Yong did in Pakistan was attempt to receive
training. I don't see how this is giving service to an entity,"
Brinkema said, referring to the terrorist group.
Seven of the other defendants were accused in September of training to
eventually join al-Qaida and Taliban fighters against American troops
in the Afghanistan war.
During his plea hearing in August, Yong told Brinkema that the group
possessed a variety of weapons and trained in secret so they wouldn't
arouse suspicion.
The U.S. government designated Laskar a terrorist group in December
2001, several months after the men allegedly joined the group. Nine of
the 11 men are U.S. citizens.
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