Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid
Encyclopedia
Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid (also known as Alex Soueid and Anas Alswaid) is a Syria
n-born naturalized United States citizen
and a resident of Leesburg, Virginia
who was indicted on espionage-related charges by federal
prosecutors in October 2011. Soueid, 47 years old, is accused of passing information about Syrian American
protesters in the United States to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
, who are thought to have arrested and tortured numerous Syrian political refugees' family members and associates living in Syria.
The arrest and indictment occurred during the 2011 Syrian uprising
, in which the Syrian regime has violently reacted to demonstrations
against the government and in some instances has harassed Syrian exile
s living abroad. According to the New York Times, "the details laid out by the Justice Department lent greater support to claims by Syrian activists living abroad that they face systematic harassment, threats and intimidation – including being videotaped at protests supportive of the country’s antigovernment uprising – by people they believe to be agents of the Syrian government." An October 3 Amnesty International
report stated that "protesters outside Syria have been systematically monitored and harassed by Syrian embassy officials and others believed to be acting on behalf of the Syrian regime." Syrian dissident
Ahed al-Hendi, who coordinated demonstrations in Washington, stated that "The mentality of the Syrian regime is to track all the dissidents and know what they're doing."
dealership in Virginia. Elass stated that following the financial crisis
, Soueid's mansion was foreclosed on and the family declared bankruptcy. The home, on Somercote Lane in Leesburg, sits on 13 acres, was built in 2007, and has a four-car garage. WJLA-TV
interviewed a neighbor of the Soueid family who stated: "They seemed like really nice people. He was a high-end car salesman, used to sell Mercedes and some of these really high-end businesses and he ran into a little trouble. He was struggling as the economy took its downfall."
Following the economic downturn, an aunt of Soueid living in Paris wired $200,000 to Soueid via "an account in the name of a used car dealership". Elass stated that the $200,000 came from her family, which includes a "Saudi
oil company executive", so Soueid could start a limousine
service.
Soueid has a wife of 17 years and twin 15-year-old sons. Soueid's name is pronounced Swayd.
(under the Anas Alswaid name) in a civil
lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
in May 2011 by Syrian citizens and Syrian-Americans who claim to have been subjected to abuse by Syrian authorities and agents.
. According to the Globe and Mail
, "days later, thugs in Syria arrived at their relatives' homes in Syria, and dragged people away. One American dissident had her father killed."
On October 5, 2011, Soueid was indicted
by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria
with six criminal
counts: One count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent
of the Syrian government; two counts of providing false statements of a firearm
s purchase form; and two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement
. The charges in the indictment carry a maximum penalty of up to 40 years in prison: 15 on the conspiracy
and foreign agent charges, 15 on firearms charges, and 10 on the false statements charges.
On October 12, the United States Department of Justice
unsealed the indictment and announced that Soueid had been arrested the day before. Authorities stated that following his arrest, an AK-47
with five rounds
of ammunition, two flak jacket
s, and a Kevlar
helmet were found at Soueid's home. In a statement, the Justice Department stated that Soueid's actions were as part of a conspiracy to "undermine, silence, intimidate and potentially harm those in the United States and Syria who engaged in the protests". United States Ambassador to Syria
Robert Stephen Ford has stated that there is evidence of multiple family members of Syrian-American protesters being arrested and torture
d by the Syrian regime.
The indictment deals with Soueid's alleged activity beginning in March 2011. The unregistered foreign agent count alleges that Soueid conspiring to collect information on individuals in the United States and Syria who were protesting the regime of President Bashar Assad and acted as an agent for the Mukhabarat
(Syrian intelligence agencies
and secret police
), passing along 20 audio and video recordings depicting American protests along with the phone numbers, email addresses, and other information on protesters. The indictment alleges Soueid sent a coded email message to Syrian intelligence in April describing a meeting of protesters in a Washington suburb in Virginia.
The indictment also alleges that Soueid met with Syrian intelligence officials and spoke with Assad privately on a June 2011 trip funded by the Syrian government, specifically stating that a July email he sent to an unidentified alleged co-conspirator included a photograph of Soueid meeting with Assad.
The two counts of making false statements in the indictment stem from the FBI's interview Soueid in August. Soueid was searched and questioned by authorities upon his return to the U.S. at the Washington Dulles International Airport
and subsequently informed his handler that he would change procedures to avoid further scrutiny but would continue the "project". The indictment states that Soueid lied when he denied collecting information about protesters and passing information to the government of Syria.
The charge of listing a false current address on a firearms purchase application stems from Soueid's alleged purchase of a .40-caliber
Beretta
pistol on July 11.
The White House
National Security Council
spokesman stated that "This desperate effort to monitor protesters in the United States shows that the Assad regime is grasping for any means to silence those speaking out against their brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters. But the regime's efforts to monitor and silence protesters here in the United States will do nothing to satisfy men and women in Syria who are yearning for democracy and freedom. As long as Assad remains in power, we will continue working in concert with our international allies around the world to increase pressure on him and his regime until he steps down."
The Syrian Embassy in Washington released a statement stating that the charges were "baseless and totally unacceptable" and part of "a campaign of distortion and fabrications against the Embassy of Syria in the U.S." The embassy denied that Soueid or any other U.S. citizen acted as an agent of the Syrian Government and denied any private meeting took place between Assad and Mr. Soueid.
at 2 pm on October 12 before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Theresa C. Buchanan. At the appearance, Dennis Fitzpatrick, the federal prosecutor for the case, stated that Soueid posed "a serious risk of flight", and the magistrate judge ordered Soueid held pending a detention hearing on October 14. Soueid appeared dressed in a black fleece sweater and blue jeans and stated that he had not yet had a chance to contact his attorney. Soueid subsequently obtained a defense attorney, Haytham Faraj.
At an October 18 hearing on bail before U.S. Magistrate Judge T. Rawles Jones, Jr., prosecutor Fitzpatrick argued that Soueid should be held pending trial, stating that Soueid could flee the country and emphasized Soueid's July meeting with Assad as well as "communications about setting up bank accounts in Peru
, wire transfers of more than $200,000 from Syria via a French bank and a Citibank
deposit of $4,000 made in $100 bills a day after spending more than an hour at the Syrian Embassy in Washington. Defense lawyer Faraj argued that electronic monitoring and house arrest
were sufficient to ensure that Soueid would not contact anyone and argued that Soueid's ties to his family, a wife of 17 years and twin 15-year-old sons, made him less likely to be a flight risk. Jones ruled that Soueid should be freed from jail and placed on home detention while awaiting trial, stating, "Whatever he's done in the past, he's incapable of doing it now," Jones said. "He's, at worst, a low-level operative, and it's speculative that he would walk out on a family he's this close to." Soueid said that "There is no evidence that he is a trained operative." The prosecution gave immediate notice that the government planned to appeal and Rawles delayed implementation of the order until review by a district court
judge.
At an October 28 hearing before U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton
, Soueid pled
not guilty. Hilton set the trial date at March 5, 2012 and reversed the magistrate judge's decision, ordering that Soueid be detained until the trial. At the hearing, prosecutor Fitzpatrick presented more detailed evidence to suggest that Soueid was a high-level operative, stating that the prosecution had "tread lightly" on presenting evidence at the detention hearing the week earlier because much of it came from a confidential source paid by the FBI whose the prosecution did not wish to endanger more. In a brief, Fitzpatrick described Soueid as wanting to retaliate against the two people who sued him and Syrian Embassy officials in a civil suit. Fitzpatrick stated that five days after Soueid had returned from the trip to Syria, Soueid had took the confidential source to a Lorton, Virginia
shooting range
and asked the source if he had ever killed anyone. According to prosecutors, "the two reportedly agreed to stick with Plan A, collecting and delivering information about Syrian dissidents in the United States, until they needed Plan B, taking hostile action." Prosecutors allege that Soueid told a foreign intelligence contact about the source's shooting skills after their meeting. Fitzpatrick stressed Soueid's recent acquisition of a Syrian passport, stating that Soueid was "extension of the government of Syria" and "clearly has designs to flee". Defense attorney Faraj argued that the government's claims were exaggerated. Faraj stated that the weapons found at Soueid's home reflected that Soueid was a long-time member of the National Rifle Association
member who frequented shooting ranges and hunted with his twin sons, and the overseas intelligence contact was merely a friend of Soueid's. Faraj stated that Soueid's Syrian passport reflected "home pride". Reuters reported that Soueid was dressed in a green prison jumpsuit
for the hearing and "bowed his head after the judge's decision, running his hands through his hair", mouthing "it's OK" and giving a "thumbs up" gesture to his family members as he was led from the courtroom. CNN reported that after the hearing Faraj stated that "he is considering whether to appeal Soueid's continued detention to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
", although "he acknowledged such appeals are rarely successful".
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n-born naturalized United States citizen
Citizenship in the United States
Citizenship in the United States is a status given to individuals that entails specific rights, duties, privileges, and benefits between the United States and the individual...
and a resident of Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
who was indicted on espionage-related charges by federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
prosecutors in October 2011. Soueid, 47 years old, is accused of passing information about Syrian American
Syrian American
Syrian Americans are residents of the United States of Syrian ancestry or nationality. This group includes Americans of Syrian ancestry, Syrian first generation immigrants, or descendants of Syrians who emigrated to the United States. Syrian Americans may be members of a number of differing...
protesters in the United States to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad
Bashar al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Ba'ath Party. His father Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria for 29 years until his death in 2000. Al-Assad was elected in 2000, re-elected in 2007, unopposed each time.- Early Life :...
, who are thought to have arrested and tortured numerous Syrian political refugees' family members and associates living in Syria.
The arrest and indictment occurred during the 2011 Syrian uprising
2011 Syrian uprising
The 2011 Syrian uprising is an ongoing internal conflict occurring in Syria. Protests started on 26 January 2011, and escalated into an uprising by 15 March 2011...
, in which the Syrian regime has violently reacted to demonstrations
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
against the government and in some instances has harassed Syrian exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
s living abroad. According to the New York Times, "the details laid out by the Justice Department lent greater support to claims by Syrian activists living abroad that they face systematic harassment, threats and intimidation – including being videotaped at protests supportive of the country’s antigovernment uprising – by people they believe to be agents of the Syrian government." An October 3 Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
report stated that "protesters outside Syria have been systematically monitored and harassed by Syrian embassy officials and others believed to be acting on behalf of the Syrian regime." Syrian dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
Ahed al-Hendi, who coordinated demonstrations in Washington, stated that "The mentality of the Syrian regime is to track all the dissidents and know what they're doing."
Early life and career
Soueid's cousin Rasha Elass stated that Soueid immigrated to the United States 20 years ago with $600 and eventually earned a salary of over $300,000 a year working for a Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
dealership in Virginia. Elass stated that following the financial crisis
Late-2000s financial crisis
The late-2000s financial crisis is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s...
, Soueid's mansion was foreclosed on and the family declared bankruptcy. The home, on Somercote Lane in Leesburg, sits on 13 acres, was built in 2007, and has a four-car garage. WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station NewsChannel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia...
interviewed a neighbor of the Soueid family who stated: "They seemed like really nice people. He was a high-end car salesman, used to sell Mercedes and some of these really high-end businesses and he ran into a little trouble. He was struggling as the economy took its downfall."
Following the economic downturn, an aunt of Soueid living in Paris wired $200,000 to Soueid via "an account in the name of a used car dealership". Elass stated that the $200,000 came from her family, which includes a "Saudi
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
oil company executive", so Soueid could start a limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
service.
Soueid has a wife of 17 years and twin 15-year-old sons. Soueid's name is pronounced Swayd.
Earlier civil lawsuit
Soueid was named as a defendantDefendant
A defendant or defender is any party who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff or pursuer in a civil lawsuit before a court, or any party who has been formally charged or accused of violating a criminal statute...
(under the Anas Alswaid name) in a civil
Civil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
in May 2011 by Syrian citizens and Syrian-Americans who claim to have been subjected to abuse by Syrian authorities and agents.
Alleged spying activities
When Syrian American pro-democracy protesters held rallies against Bashir's regime in the summer 2011, they reported noticing a middle-aged man with a camera in a HummerHummer
Hummer was a brand of trucks and SUVs, first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998, General Motors purchased the brand name and marketed three vehicles: the original Hummer H1, based on the Humvee; and the H2 and H3 models that were...
. According to the Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
, "days later, thugs in Syria arrived at their relatives' homes in Syria, and dragged people away. One American dissident had her father killed."
On October 5, 2011, Soueid was indicted
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
with six criminal
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
counts: One count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent
Foreign Agents Registration Act
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a United States law passed in 1938 requiring that agents representing the interests of foreign powers be properly identified to the American public. The act was passed in response to German propaganda in the lead-up to World War II...
of the Syrian government; two counts of providing false statements of a firearm
Firearm
A firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
s purchase form; and two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement
Law enforcement
Law enforcement broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate the rules and norms governing that society...
. The charges in the indictment carry a maximum penalty of up to 40 years in prison: 15 on the conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
and foreign agent charges, 15 on firearms charges, and 10 on the false statements charges.
On October 12, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
unsealed the indictment and announced that Soueid had been arrested the day before. Authorities stated that following his arrest, an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
with five rounds
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
of ammunition, two flak jacket
Flak jacket
thumb|300px|The two components of an obsolete British military flak vest. On the left, the nylon vest. On the right, the several layers of [[ballistic nylon]] that provide the actual protection...
s, and a Kevlar
Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
helmet were found at Soueid's home. In a statement, the Justice Department stated that Soueid's actions were as part of a conspiracy to "undermine, silence, intimidate and potentially harm those in the United States and Syria who engaged in the protests". United States Ambassador to Syria
United States Ambassador to Syria
The United States Ambassador to Syria is the official representative of the President of the United States to the head of state of Syria.From the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in 1922 until 1944, Syria had been under the control of France as a part of the League of Nations French Mandate of...
Robert Stephen Ford has stated that there is evidence of multiple family members of Syrian-American protesters being arrested and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d by the Syrian regime.
The indictment deals with Soueid's alleged activity beginning in March 2011. The unregistered foreign agent count alleges that Soueid conspiring to collect information on individuals in the United States and Syria who were protesting the regime of President Bashar Assad and acted as an agent for the Mukhabarat
Mukhabarat
Mukhābarāt is the Arabic term for intelligence, as in intelligence agency. In the West, the term is sometimes used negatively, connotating repression, often by means of secret police or state terror, in Arab countries...
(Syrian intelligence agencies
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
and secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
), passing along 20 audio and video recordings depicting American protests along with the phone numbers, email addresses, and other information on protesters. The indictment alleges Soueid sent a coded email message to Syrian intelligence in April describing a meeting of protesters in a Washington suburb in Virginia.
The indictment also alleges that Soueid met with Syrian intelligence officials and spoke with Assad privately on a June 2011 trip funded by the Syrian government, specifically stating that a July email he sent to an unidentified alleged co-conspirator included a photograph of Soueid meeting with Assad.
The two counts of making false statements in the indictment stem from the FBI's interview Soueid in August. Soueid was searched and questioned by authorities upon his return to the U.S. at the Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport
Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...
and subsequently informed his handler that he would change procedures to avoid further scrutiny but would continue the "project". The indictment states that Soueid lied when he denied collecting information about protesters and passing information to the government of Syria.
The charge of listing a false current address on a firearms purchase application stems from Soueid's alleged purchase of a .40-caliber
.40 S&W
The .40 S&W is a rimless pistol cartridge developed jointly by major American firearms manufacturers Winchester and Smith & Wesson. The .40 S&W was developed from the ground up as a law enforcement cartridge designed to duplicate performance of the FBI's reduced velocity 10mm cartridge which could...
Beretta
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...
pistol on July 11.
The White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
National Security Council
National Security Council
A National Security Council is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security...
spokesman stated that "This desperate effort to monitor protesters in the United States shows that the Assad regime is grasping for any means to silence those speaking out against their brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters. But the regime's efforts to monitor and silence protesters here in the United States will do nothing to satisfy men and women in Syria who are yearning for democracy and freedom. As long as Assad remains in power, we will continue working in concert with our international allies around the world to increase pressure on him and his regime until he steps down."
The Syrian Embassy in Washington released a statement stating that the charges were "baseless and totally unacceptable" and part of "a campaign of distortion and fabrications against the Embassy of Syria in the U.S." The embassy denied that Soueid or any other U.S. citizen acted as an agent of the Syrian Government and denied any private meeting took place between Assad and Mr. Soueid.
Case proceedings
Soueid made his first court appearanceArraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
at 2 pm on October 12 before U.S. Magistrate Judge
United States magistrate judge
In the United States federal courts, magistrate judges are appointed to assist United States district court judges in the performance of their duties...
Theresa C. Buchanan. At the appearance, Dennis Fitzpatrick, the federal prosecutor for the case, stated that Soueid posed "a serious risk of flight", and the magistrate judge ordered Soueid held pending a detention hearing on October 14. Soueid appeared dressed in a black fleece sweater and blue jeans and stated that he had not yet had a chance to contact his attorney. Soueid subsequently obtained a defense attorney, Haytham Faraj.
At an October 18 hearing on bail before U.S. Magistrate Judge T. Rawles Jones, Jr., prosecutor Fitzpatrick argued that Soueid should be held pending trial, stating that Soueid could flee the country and emphasized Soueid's July meeting with Assad as well as "communications about setting up bank accounts in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, wire transfers of more than $200,000 from Syria via a French bank and a Citibank
Citibank
Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
deposit of $4,000 made in $100 bills a day after spending more than an hour at the Syrian Embassy in Washington. Defense lawyer Faraj argued that electronic monitoring and house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
were sufficient to ensure that Soueid would not contact anyone and argued that Soueid's ties to his family, a wife of 17 years and twin 15-year-old sons, made him less likely to be a flight risk. Jones ruled that Soueid should be freed from jail and placed on home detention while awaiting trial, stating, "Whatever he's done in the past, he's incapable of doing it now," Jones said. "He's, at worst, a low-level operative, and it's speculative that he would walk out on a family he's this close to." Soueid said that "There is no evidence that he is a trained operative." The prosecution gave immediate notice that the government planned to appeal and Rawles delayed implementation of the order until review by a district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
judge.
At an October 28 hearing before U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton
Claude M. Hilton
Claude M. Hilton is a United States federal judge.Born in Scott County, Virginia, Hilton received a B.S. from Ohio State University in 1963 and a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law in 1966. He was an assistant commonwealth's attorney of Arlington, Virginia from 1967 to 1968...
, Soueid pled
Plea
In legal terms, a plea is simply an answer to a claim made by someone in a civil or criminal case under common law using the adversary system. Colloquially, a plea has come to mean the assertion by a criminal defendant at arraignment, or otherwise in response to a criminal charge, whether that...
not guilty. Hilton set the trial date at March 5, 2012 and reversed the magistrate judge's decision, ordering that Soueid be detained until the trial. At the hearing, prosecutor Fitzpatrick presented more detailed evidence to suggest that Soueid was a high-level operative, stating that the prosecution had "tread lightly" on presenting evidence at the detention hearing the week earlier because much of it came from a confidential source paid by the FBI whose the prosecution did not wish to endanger more. In a brief, Fitzpatrick described Soueid as wanting to retaliate against the two people who sued him and Syrian Embassy officials in a civil suit. Fitzpatrick stated that five days after Soueid had returned from the trip to Syria, Soueid had took the confidential source to a Lorton, Virginia
Lorton, Virginia
Lorton is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population is 27,709 as of the 2008 census estimate.-History:...
shooting range
Shooting range
A shooting range or firing range is a specialized facility designed for firearms practice. Each facility is typically overseen by one or more supervisory personnel, called variously a range master or "RSO – Range Safety Officer" in the United States or a range conducting officer or "RCO" in the UK...
and asked the source if he had ever killed anyone. According to prosecutors, "the two reportedly agreed to stick with Plan A, collecting and delivering information about Syrian dissidents in the United States, until they needed Plan B, taking hostile action." Prosecutors allege that Soueid told a foreign intelligence contact about the source's shooting skills after their meeting. Fitzpatrick stressed Soueid's recent acquisition of a Syrian passport, stating that Soueid was "extension of the government of Syria" and "clearly has designs to flee". Defense attorney Faraj argued that the government's claims were exaggerated. Faraj stated that the weapons found at Soueid's home reflected that Soueid was a long-time member of the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
member who frequented shooting ranges and hunted with his twin sons, and the overseas intelligence contact was merely a friend of Soueid's. Faraj stated that Soueid's Syrian passport reflected "home pride". Reuters reported that Soueid was dressed in a green prison jumpsuit
Jumpsuit
Jumpsuit originally referred to the utilitarian one-piece garments used by parachuters/skydivers, but has come to be used as a common term for any one-piece garment with sleeves and legs.-Use:...
for the hearing and "bowed his head after the judge's decision, running his hands through his hair", mouthing "it's OK" and giving a "thumbs up" gesture to his family members as he was led from the courtroom. CNN reported that after the hearing Faraj stated that "he is considering whether to appeal Soueid's continued detention to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:*District of Maryland*Eastern District of North Carolina...
", although "he acknowledged such appeals are rarely successful".
External links
- Copy of indictment on ScribdScribdScribd is a Web 2.0 based document-sharing website which allows users to post documents of various formats, and embed them into a web page using its iPaper format. Scribd was founded by Trip Adler, Tikhon Bernstam, and Jared Friedman in 2006...