Terror Suspects Not Guilty, Wife Says
Police Say They Found 1,000 Cell Phones in Minivan
By JAMIE STENGLE
AP
CARO, Mich. (Aug. 13) - The wife of one of three Texas men arraigned on
terrorism-related charges in Michigan says her husband and his
relatives are not terrorists, but are simply trying to make money by
reselling cell phones.
"They're locked up in jail for something that they didn't do,"
20-year-old Lina Odeh told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Her husband, Louai Abdelhamied Othman of Mesquite, along with his
brother, Adham Abdelhamid Othman of Dallas, and their cousin Maruan
Awad Muhareb of Mesquite, are charged with collecting or providing
materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target
for terrorist purposes.
Police found about 1,000 cell phones in the men's minivan. Authorities
have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones,
most of which were prepaid TracFones. But the police chief in Caro,
Mich., where they were arrested, said cell phones can be used as
detonators, and prosecutors in a similar case in Ohio have said that
TracFones are often used by terrorists because they are not traceable.
Odeh said the men were buying the phones to sell to a man in Dallas for
a profit of about $5 per phone. She said they were in Michigan because
so many people in the Dallas area are doing the same thing that the
phones are often sold out.
Odeh said she thought her husband and her relatives were targeted
because of their Arab descent. The men's families come from Jerusalem,
she said.
The men were stopped early Friday about 80 miles north of Detroit after
purchasing 80 cell phones from a Wal-Mart. Police said they found about
1,000 phones in their minivan. The men were arrested Friday afternoon.
No pleas were entered at the arraignment Saturday at a District Court
in Caro. A magistrate set bond at $750,000 apiece and the men were
being held at the Tuscola County Jail, police said.
"All we did is buy the phones to sell and make money," Louai Othman
told the magistrate. He said authorities had previously stopped the
group in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Muhareb told the magistrate: "This is a misunderstanding." He said he
was selling the phones to earn money to help pay for his brother's
college education.
Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene told The Saginaw News in
Michigan that investigators believe the men were targeting the Mackinac
Bridge, which connects Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. He
declined to say what led investigators to that belief.
Reene and the FBI did not return phone messages Saturday from The
Associated Press.
Odeh said the family is working to get an attorney for the men.
"I just want everyone to know that they're innocent and they shouldn't
be locked up in jail without any evidence," she said.
Her husband is a college student and they have a 2-month-old baby, Odeh
said.
A pretrial hearing has been set for Friday and a preliminary exam for
Aug. 24.
The arrests in Michigan came three days after two men were arrested in
Marietta, Ohio, where police said they aroused suspicions when they
acknowledged buying about 600 phones in recent months at stores in
southeast Ohio.
Ali Houssaiky and Osama Abulhassan, both 20 and from the Detroit suburb
of Dearborn, have been charged with two felonies - money laundering
in support of terrorism and soliciting or providing support for acts of
terrorism - and misdemeanor falsification. A preliminary hearing on
the felony counts was set for Tuesday.
Defense lawyers said Houssaiky and Abulhassan planned to resell the
phones simply to make money. They say the men were targeted only
because they are of Arab descent.
08-13-06 07:27 EDT
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| User: "kmiller" |
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| Title: Re: Terror Suspects Not Guilty, Wife Says |
14 Aug 2006 11:04:40 PM |
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Tell this guy's wife - "Get Real, Will You !!!"
Anyone caught with 1000 'Bootleg' Cell Phones is GUILTY of SOMETHING.
And that SOMETHING is definitely not LEGAL.
HANG THE ***** (we can figure out what he did wrong later).
[Just following the American tradition of "Not Always Right" (But Never
Wrong) !!! ]
;-)
PS: This is maybe one of those few times that I think this attitude -
actually suits the CRIME.
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| User: "infantis horribilis" |
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| Title: Re: Terror Suspects Not Guilty, Wife Says |
17 Aug 2006 10:11:06 PM |
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Is this another one of your failed predictions?
"kmiller" <miller.k@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:1155614680.150916.28500@74g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
Tell this guy's wife - "Get Real, Will You !!!"
Anyone caught with 1000 'Bootleg' Cell Phones is GUILTY of SOMETHING.
And that SOMETHING is definitely not LEGAL.
HANG THE ***** (we can figure out what he did wrong later).
[Just following the American tradition of "Not Always Right" (But Never
Wrong) !!! ]
;-)
PS: This is maybe one of those few times that I think this attitude -
actually suits the CRIME.
.
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| User: "John Lemke" |
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| Title: Re: Terror Suspects Not Guilty, Wife Says |
17 Aug 2006 10:34:37 PM |
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As it turns out prosecutors in Bay County dropped the terrorism charges they
filed against these men and turned the gentlemen over to the FBI for fraud
investigation.
There were reports that these guys had pictures and video tape of the
Mackinac Bridge. 60,000 people walk the five miles over the bridge every
Labor Day. Would make fine target.
So everyone must be a tad excitable these days.
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| User: "Werewolfy" |
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| Title: Re: Terror Suspects Not Guilty, Wife Says |
13 Aug 2006 07:58:17 AM |
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lkgeo1 wrote: Terror Suspects Not Guilty, Wife Says
Wives tend to say those sort of things.
Werewolfy
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