Alleged terror suspect goes before Houston judge

Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan appeared in federal court in Houston on Friday, Jan. 8, 2015. Al Hardan is accused of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing false information to obtain citizenship and making false statements to U.S. officials. less Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan appeared in federal court in Houston on Friday, Jan. 8, 2015. Al Hardan is accused of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing false information to ... more Photo: Steve Gonzales , Houston Chronicle Photo: Steve Gonzales , Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 69 Caption Close Alleged terror suspect goes before Houston judge 1 / 69 Back to Gallery

An air of heaviness and confusion appeared to cloak terror suspect Omar Faraj Saeed Al Hardan as he was escorted into a Houston federal courtroom on Friday morning to hear the three charges against him.

The 24-year-old Houstonian is accused of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, providing false information to obtain citizenship and making false statements to U.S. officials. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy read the charges against him and he interacted with her via an interpreter.

Al Hardan appeared in court in a rumpled black and gray long-sleeved plaid shirt with khaki pants and glasses.

Prosecutors asked for him to be detained pending trial and the judge ordered a detention hearing on Wednesday.

Milloy also appointed David Adler to represent Al Hardan.

Al Hardan was one of two people arrested Thursday as part of federal investigations into alleged terrorist plans. The other man, from Sacramento, Calif., was identified as Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab.

Al-Jayab was charged with making a false statement involving international terrorism. The 23-year-old allegedly "traveled overseas to fight alongside terrorist organizations and lied to U.S. authorities about his activities," said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin in a statement. He was scheduled to appear in a California courtroom Friday morning.

According to the indictment, Al Hardan is an Iraqi refugee of Palestinian heritage who entered the United States in 2009 the month before he turned 18. He was granted legal permanent resident status in 2011.

During the hearing, more details emerged about the defendant. He told the judge he is married with one child and lives in a Harris County apartment.

Through an interpreter, Al Hardan said he made it to the 11th grade in Jordan and can read and write English "a little bit, but not much." He said he earns about $1,800 a month from three incomes sources and has about $1,700 in the bank.

When the judge ordered him to pay $700 toward his legal representation and leave another $1,000 for his wife's living expenses, Al Hardan said the money was for his parents to acquire an apartment.

She explained that he was required to pay and Al Hardan said he would comply.

Milloy said the terrorism charge carries up to 20 years in prison, the false citizenship information up to 25 years and the false statement as long as eight years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ralph Imperato, who was joined by a trial attorney from the Justice Department's counterterrorism section, asked for the defendant to be detained as a danger to the community and a flight risk. Al Hardan will remain in custody until a determination on bail can be made during a detention hearing next week.

U.S. Attorney Ken Magidson of the Southern District of Texas said Al Hardan was arrested Thursday at a Homeland Security office, but would not confirm whether the defendant was there voluntarily.

In an impromptu briefing with reporters after the hearing, Magidson declined to provide many details about Al Hardan's background or alleged efforts related to terrorism beyond the indictment, including whether the accused activity was an individual effort or linked to others – namely the Sacramento resident, Al-Jayab. The U.S. attorney also would not say if there were any other local people connected to similar allegations.

Magidson said the defendant had been trained to use an automatic weapon but that the Houston community was never in danger.

"It could happen in any city in the United States — anywhere in the world," the prosecutor said. "We're trying to be attentive to all the needs to ensure the public safety at all times."

Magidson did expound of the severity of the allegation about providing false information to obtain citizenship, but would not discuss when and where Al Hardan is accused of lying.

"We consider applications for citizenship to be very serious matters. When people come into to this country and apply for citizenship, we expect honest answers from them," the U.S. attorney said. "If he's convicted and he's not a citizen of the United States, steps will be taken to deport him."

Magidson also declined to discuss statements from Gov. Greg Abbott and other elected officials who said the arrests confirm the concerns of Texas officials about an influx of Mideast refugees into Texas who have not been properly vetted.

"I'm not going to go into whatever anybody else said," he said. "My responsibility as the United States attorney is to ensure that the interests of the United States are followed. We ensure that people that are charged with federal crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That's where my focus is and will always be. I'm a career prosecutor. Politicians and American citizens are free to say whatever they want."

On Thursday, the governor and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued statements continuing to criticize the resettlement of refugees.

"This is precisely why I called for a halt to refugees entering the U.S. from countries substantially controlled by terrorists," Abbott said in a statement. "I once again urge the president to halt the resettlement of these refugees in the United States until there is an effective vetting process that will ensure refugees do not compromise the safety of Americans and Texans."

Patrick echoed that sentiment.

"Based on the facts, as we know them, today's action (the arrests) may have prevented a catastrophic terror-related event in the making and saved countless lives," Patrick said. "This is exactly what we have repeatedly told the Obama administration could happen and why we do not want refugees coming to Texas. There are serious questions about who these people really are, as evidenced by (Thursday's) events."

Multi-agency investigation

According to the six-page indictment, Al Hardan was born in Iraq on Christmas Day, 1991, and entered the U.S. as a refugee around Nov. 2, 2009. He was granted permanent resident status about Aug. 22, 2011.

The indictment states that almost three years later, around May 2014, he "did unlawfully and knowingly attempt to provide material support and resources ... training, expert advice and assistance, to a foreign terrorist organization, namely the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... knowing that the organization is a designated foreign terrorist organization and knowing that ISIL engages in, and has engaged in terrorist activity and terrorism."

Read the full indictment below.

When applying for citizenship in August 2014, the indictment alleges that Al Hardan "represented that he was not in any way associated (either directly or indirectly) with a terrorist organization, whereas in truth, the defendant knew he associated...with a terrorist organization."

Then late last October, he allegedly covered up this association when he "participated in an interview" with Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations. When he was questioned about his application for naturalization, Al Hardan indicated "he had never received any type of weapons training" when in truth he had been trained "on an automatic machine gun," according to the indictment

The charge of attempting to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. The charge of false citizenship procurement has a maximum sentence of 25 years and the charge of making false statements carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and Homeland Security with the assistance of the Houston Police Department.

In the Sacramento case, Al-Jayab "allegedly traveled overseas to fight alongside terrorist organizations and concealed that conduct from immigration authorities," said Benjamin Wagner, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, in a statement.

Wagner added that while Al-Jayab "represented a potential safety threat, there is no indication that he planned any acts of terrorism in this country."

Read the full indictment below.

The release noted that an ongoing investigation is being conducted.

'No current threat'

Angela Dodge, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston, confirmed the Houston arrest in a statement and said additional information would be made public when Al Hardan makes an initial court appearance.

"I can confirm that there was a national security-related arrest (Thursday)," she said. "There is no current threat to public safety associated with this arrest." Details of the arrest were not immediately disclosed.

In California, the Sacramento Bee reported that an unusual closed-door hearing was underway late Thursday afternoon, reportedly involving the case.

California Gov. Jerry Brown's office did not disclose whether officials in California had been briefed, the Bee said.

San Bernardino in Southern California is the site of the latest and deadliest terror attack -- the slayings of workers last month by two ISIS supporters -- since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The Islamic State has emerged as a major threat in recent years. Last May, U.S. Rep. David Brat, R-Virginia, contended that ISIS had established a base in Texas -- an assertion that was quickly denied by state officials and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Texas officials have warned for years that any possible terrorism activity in Texas was being closely watched.

Federal officials said a separate arrest in Milwaukee that grew out of the Sacramento investigation is not related to national security.

Staff writer Mike Glenn contributed to this report.