Maryland Teacher Found Guilty of Supporting Terror Group
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A third-grade teacher was found guilty Tuesday of lending aid to a Pakistani terrorist organization, becoming the 11th conviction in what the government called a "Virginia jihad network."
Ali Asad Chandia, 29, a teacher at an Islamic school in College Park, Md., was convicted on three of four counts, including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and conspiracy to do the same.
He faces a maximum of 45 years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 18.
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The government had accused Chandia of traveling to Pakistan in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks and receiving military training from a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting for Muslim control over the disputed Kashmir region on the India-Pakistan border. The U.S. government designated Lashkar a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001.
Upon Chandia's return to the U.S. in January 2002, the government argued, he served as a chauffeur to a top Lashkar official, Mohammed Ajmal Khan, and helped him ship military training equipment from the United States to Pakistan, including a remote-controlled aircraft and 50,000 paintballs.
Chandia's lawyer argued that his client went to Pakistan to help plan his brother's wedding and that Chandia didn't know about Khan's terrorist links.
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Khan was convicted in Britain of supporting Lashkar and sentenced this year to nine years in prison.
Chandia was a disciple of Ali al-Timimi, a U.S.-born Islamic scholar in Fairfax who the government said enjoyed "rock star status" among his followers.
Many of al-Timimi's followers played paintball games in the woods near Fredericksburg in 2000 and 2001 as a means of military training, but it is agreed that Chandia did not participate in paintball.
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Chandia attended a post-Sept. 11 meeting in which al-Timimi warned his followers that the attacks were a harbinger of an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and nonbelievers and that they were obligated to defend the Taliban against a looming U.S. invasion, according to court testimony.
Four people who attended that meeting, including Chandia, left for Pakistan in the following weeks and months.
Al-Timimi is serving a life sentence for soliciting treason and urging group members to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
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Chandia's lawyer, Marvin Miller, could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
The government has obtained 11 convictions in its prosecution of the Virginia jihad group. Two others were acquitted.