US Citizen Sentenced for Connection to Terror Plots in India and Denmark

A U.S. citizen, partly of Pakistani descent, was sentenced Thursday, January 24, 2013, to 35 years in prison for a dozen federal terrorism crimes relating to his role in planning the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, and a subsequent proposed attack on a newspaper in Denmark.

David Coleman Headley, 52, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to all 12 counts that were brought against him following his arrest in October 2009 as he was about to leave the country. 

Immediately after his arrest, Headley began cooperating with authorities.

This prison sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the FBI, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) also provided assistance.

Headley was ordered to serve 35 years, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. There is no federal parole, and defendants must serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.

"Mr. Headley is a terrorist," Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence. "There is little question that life imprisonment would be an appropriate punishment for Headley's incredibly serious crimes but for the significant value provided by his immediate and extensive cooperation," the government argued in seeking a sentence of 30 to 35 years.

In pleading guilty and later testifying for the government at the trial of a co-defendant, Headley admitted that he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in that country, on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from three members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks in 2008 that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, and wounded hundreds more.

Headley's plea agreement in March 2010 stated that he "has provided substantial assistance to the criminal investigation, and also has provided information of significant intelligence value." 

In consideration of Headley's past cooperation and anticipated future cooperation, including debriefings for gathering intelligence and national security information, the Attorney General of the United States authorized the U.S. Attorney's Office not to seek the death penalty. Headley's cooperation also includes testifying in any foreign judicial proceedings by way of deposition, via video-conferencing or letters.

"Today's sentence is an important milestone in our continuing efforts to hold accountable those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks and to achieve justice for the victims. Our investigations into Mumbai attacks and the Denmark terror plot are ongoing and active. I thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors responsible for this investigation and prosecution," said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

Headley was convicted of the following crimes:

·                             conspiracy to bomb public places in India;

·                             conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India;

·                             six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India;

·                             conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India;

·                             conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark;

·                             conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark; and

·                             conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar.

According to Headley's guilty plea and testimony, he attended the following training camps operated by Lashkar:

·                             a three-week course starting in February 2002 that provided indoctrination on the merits of waging jihad;

·                             a three-week course starting in August 2002 that provided training in the use of weapons and grenades;

·                             a three-month course starting in April 2003 that taught close combat tactics, the use of weapons and grenades, and survival skills;

·                             a three-week course starting in August 2003 that taught counter-surveillance skills; and

·                             a three-month course starting in December 2003 that provided combat and tactical training.

Mumbai Terror Attacks

After receiving instructions in late 2005 to conduct surveillance in India, Headley changed his given name from Daood Gilani in February 2006 in Philadelphia to facilitate his activities on behalf of Lashkar by portraying himself in India as an American who was neither Muslim nor Pakistani. In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities.

Headley eventually made five extended trips to Mumbai - in September 2006, February and September 2007, and April and July 2008 - each time making videotapes of various potential targets, including those attacked in November 2008. Before each trip, Lashkar members and associates instructed Headley regarding specific locations where he was to conduct surveillance. After each trip, Headley traveled to Pakistan to meet with Lashkar members and associates, report on the results of his surveillance, and provide the surveillance videos. Before the April 2008 surveillance trip, Headley and co-conspirators in Pakistan discussed potential landing sites in Mumbai for a team of attackers who would arrive by sea. Headley returned to Mumbai with a global positioning system device and took boat trips around the Mumbai harbor, and entered various locations into the device.

Between Nov. 26 and 28, 2008, 10 attackers trained by Lashkar carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, including the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, the Leopold Café, the Chabad House and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station. Headley had scouted each site in advance, which the resulting terrorist attacks killed 164 victims and wounded hundreds more.

The six Americans killed during the siege were Ben Zion Chroman, Gavriel Holtzberg, Sandeep Jeswani, Alan Scherr, his daughter Naomi Scherr, and Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum. In March 2009, Headley made a sixth trip to India to conduct additional surveillance, including of the National Defense College in Delhi, and of Chabad Houses in several cities.

Denmark Terror Plot

Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley admitted and testified that in early November 2008, he was instructed by a Lashkar member in Pakistan, to conduct surveillance of the Copenhagen and Aarhus offices of the Danish newspaper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in preparation for an attack in retaliation for the newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. After this meeting, Headley informed co-defendant Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed (Abdur Rehman), also known as "Pasha," of his assignment. Abdur Rehman told Headley words to the effect that if Lashkar did not go through with the attack, Abdur Rehman knew someone who would. Although not identified by name at the time, Headley later learned this individual was co-defendant Ilyas Kashmiri. Abdur Rehman previously told Headley that he was working with Kashmiri and that Kashmiri was in direct contact with a senior leader of Al Qaeda.

While in Chicago in late December 2008 and early January 2009, Headley exchanged emails with Abdur Rehman to continue planning for the attack and to coordinate his travel to Denmark to conduct surveillance. In January 2009, at Lashkar's direction, Headley traveled from Chicago to Copenhagen to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus and scouted and videotaped the surrounding areas.

In late January 2009, Headley met separately with Abdur Rehman and a Lashkar member in Pakistan, discussed the planned attack on the newspaper, and provided them with videos of his surveillance. About the same time, Abdur Rehman provided Headley a video produced by the media wing of Al Qaeda in about August 2008, which claimed credit for the June 2008 attack on the Danish embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, and called for further attacks against Danish interests to avenge the publication of the offending cartoons.

In February 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman met with Kashmiri in the Waziristan region of Pakistan, where they discussed the video surveillance and ways to carry out the attack. Kashmiri told Headley that he could provide manpower for the operation and that Lashkar's participation was not necessary. In March 2009, a Lashkar member advised Headley that Lashkar put the newspaper attack on hold because of pressure resulting from the Mumbai attacks. In May 2009, Headley and Abdur Rehman again met with Kashmiri in Waziristan. 

Kashmiri told Headley to meet with a European contact who could provide Headley with money, weapons and manpower for the Denmark attack, and relate Kashmiri's instructions that this should be a suicide attack and the attackers should prepare martyrdom videos beforehand. Kashmiri also stated that the attackers should behead captives and throw their heads on to the street in Copenhagen to heighten the response from Danish authorities, and added that the "elders," whom Headley understood to be Al Qaeda leadership, wanted the attack to happen as soon as possible.

In late July and early August 2009, Headley traveled from Chicago to various places in Europe, and met with and attempted to obtain assistance from Kashmiri's contacts and, while in Copenhagen, he made about 13 additional surveillance videos. When he returned to the United States Aug. 5, 2009, Headley falsely told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspector in Atlanta that he had visited Europe for business reasons. On Oct. 3, 2009, Headley was arrested at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, intending ultimately to travel to Pakistan to deliver about 13 surveillance videos to Abdur Rehman and Kashmiri.

One of Headley's co-defendants, Tahawwur Rana, 52, of Chicago, was sentenced last week to 14 years in prison for conspiracy to provide material support to the Denmark terror plot and providing material support to Lashkar. Headley testified for the government at Rana's trial in June 2011.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, Northern District of Illinois, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks. 

Pakistani Native Sentenced for Supporting Terrorists

A Pakistani native, who operated a Chicago-based immigration business, was sentenced Thursday, January 17, 2013, to 14 years in prison for conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist plot in Denmark and providing material support to Lashkar e Tayyiba, a terrorist organization operating in Pakistan, that was responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India.

The defendant, Tahawwur Rana, was convicted of the charges June 9, 2011 following a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

This prison sentence resulted from an investigation conducted by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, led by the Chicago Office of the FBI, with assistance from FBI offices in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) also provided assistance.

Rana, 52, a Canadian citizen, was ordered to serve 14 years, followed by five years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, Northern District of Illinois. "This certainly was a dastardly plot," Judge Leinenweber said in imposing the sentence.

Rana was convicted of conspiring to provide material support to a plot from October 2008 to October 2009 to commit murder in Denmark, including a horrific plan to behead employees of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper, and throw their heads onto a Copenhagen street. Rana was also convicted of providing material support, from late 2005 to October 2009, to Lashkar, a militant jihadist organization operating in Pakistan. Lashkar planned and carried out the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans, before initially planning the terrorist attack in Denmark in retaliation for the newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Rana was acquitted of conspiring to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks.

"This serious prison sentence should go a long way towards convincing would-be terrorists that they can't hide behind the scenes, lend support to the violent aims of terrorist organizations, and escape detection and punishment," said Gary S. Shapiro, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

"Today's sentence demonstrates that, just as vigorously as we pursue terrorists and their organizations, we will also pursue those who facilitate their violent plots from a safe distance. As established at trial, Tahawwur Rana provided critical support to David Headley and other terrorists from his base in the United States, knowing they were plotting attacks overseas. I thank the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about today's result," said Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

"It is my hope that the judge's decision today sends a message to those who plot attacks and those who provide the support to make the plots possible, both here and abroad, that you will be held accountable for your actions. Our mission, detecting and preventing terrorist acts and eliminating the enabling support provided by terrorist sympathizers, remains our top priority," said Cory B. Nelson, special agent in charge of the Chicago FBI office.

Rana is one of two defendants to be convicted among a total of eight defendants who have been indicted in this case since late 2009. Co-defendant David Coleman Headley, 52, pleaded guilty in March 2010 to 12 terrorism charges, including aiding and abetting the murders of the six Americans in Mumbai. Headley, who is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday, January 24, 2013, has cooperated with the government since his arrest in October 2009, and testified as a government witness at Rana's trial. He is facing a maximum of life in prison.

The evidence at Rana's trial showed that he knew he was assisting a terrorist organization and murderers, knew their violent goals, and readily agreed to play an essential role in achieving their aims. The government contended that Rana knew the objective of his co-conspirators was to retaliate against and influence the Danish government for its perceived role in the publication of the Prophet Mohammed cartoons. In addition, Rana knew that the goal of Lashkar was to retaliate against and influence the Indian and Danish governments; he intended that the support he provided - enabling Headley's activities - would be used toward that purpose.

In a post-arrest statement in October 2009, Rana admitted knowing that Lashkar was a terrorist organization and that Headley had attended training camps that Lashkar operated in Pakistan. Headley testified that he attended the training camps on five separate occasions between 2002 and 2005. In late 2005, Headley received instructions from members of Lashkar to travel to India to conduct surveillance, which he did five times leading up to the Mumbai attacks three years later that killed more than 160 people and wounded hundreds more.

In the early summer of 2006, Headley and two Lashkar members discussed opening an immigration office in Mumbai as a cover for his surveillance activities. Headley testified that he traveled to Chicago and advised Rana, his long-time friend since the time they attended high school together in Pakistan, of his assignment to scout potential targets in India. Headley obtained approval from Rana, who owned First World Immigration Services in Chicago and elsewhere, to open a First World office in Mumbai as cover for his activities. Rana directed an individual associated with First World to prepare documents supporting Headley's cover story, and advised Headley how to obtain a visa for travel to India, according to Headley's testimony, as well as emails and other documents that corroborated his account.

Between Nov. 26 and 28, 2008, 10 attackers, trained by Lashkar, carried out multiple assaults with firearms, grenades and improvised explosive devices against multiple targets in Mumbai, some of which Headley had scouted in advance.

Regarding the Denmark terror plot, Headley testified that in the fall of 2008, he met with a Lashkar member in Karachi, Pakistan, and was instructed to conduct surveillance of the Jyllands-Posten newspaper offices in Copenhagen and Aarhus.

In late 2008 and early 2009, after reviewing with Rana how he had performed surveillance of the targets attacked in Mumbai, Headley testified that he advised Rana of the planned attack in Denmark and his intended travel there to conduct surveillance of the newspaper's facilities. Headley obtained Rana's approval and assistance to identify himself as a representative of First World and gain access to the newspaper's offices by falsely expressing interest in placing advertising for First World in the newspaper. Headley and Rana caused business cards to be made that identified Headley as a representative of the Immigration Law Center, the business name of First World, according to the evidence at trial.

The trial evidence also included transcripts of recorded conversations, including those in September 2009, when Headley and Rana spoke about reports that a co-defendant, Ilyas Kashmiri, an alleged Pakistani terrorist leader, had been killed and the implications of his possible death for the plan to attack the newspaper. In other conversations, Rana told Headley that the attackers involved in the Mumbai attacks should receive Pakistan's highest posthumous military honors. In the late summer of 2009, Rana and Headley agreed that funds that had been provided to Rana could be used to fund Headley's work in Denmark. The evidence showed that Rana pretended to be Headley in sending an email to the Danish newspaper.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Collins and Sarah E. Streicker, Northern District of Illinois, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have worked on a broader investigation of the Mumbai attacks.

Terrorism Suspects Extradited from the United Kingdom to Face Charges in U.S.

Two British nationals were extradited from the United Kingdom late Friday, October 5, 2012, and now face terrorism-related charges in the United States. If convicted of the charges, both face up to life in prison. This investigation is being led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Babar Ahmad, 38, and Syed Talha Ahsan, 33, were extradited Oct. 5, arriving in the United States early in the morning Oct. 6. They appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Janet C. Hall the same day. Both pleaded not guilty, but were ordered detained while they await trial.

Ahmad and Ahsan are charged with terrorism-related offenses stemming from their involvement in, and operation of "Azzam Publications," an entity in London that allegedly provided material support to the Chechen Muhjahideen, the Taliban and associated terrorist groups.

On Oct. 6, 2004, a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport, Conn., returned an indictment charging Ahmad with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists, conspiring to kill persons in a foreign country and money laundering.

On June 28, 2006, a Bridgeport grand jury returned an indictment charging Ahsan with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to kill persons in a foreign country. Ahmad and Ahsan have been detained since their arrests by British law enforcement authorities Aug. 5, 2004, and July 19, 2006, respectively.

The indictments allege that Ahmad and Ahsan were members of a group that supported the Chechen Muhjahideen, the Taliban and associated terrorist groups through various means, including the operation of a series of websites under the name of "Azzam Publications," which promoted violent jihad and featured jihadi training manuals, interviews with Al-Qaeda and Chechen leaders and associates, and stories and martyrdom videos of fallen jihadists.

The indictments allege that the defendants assisted the Taliban and the Chechen Mujahideen by providing funds, military items, communications equipment, lodging, training, safe houses, expert advice and assistance, personnel, transportation, false documentation and identification, and other supplies, knowing and intending that such conduct would support the military activities of these and associated groups.

Among other things, the indictments allege that Ahmad made efforts to secure GPS devices, Kevlar helmets, night vision goggles, ballistic vests and camouflage uniforms. In addition, Ahmad and Ahsan are alleged to have recruited and arranged for individuals to travel to Afghanistan to train for violent jihad.

The indictments further allege that a search of Ahmad's residence in the United Kingdom in December 2003 revealed Ahmad in possession of an electronic document setting forth what were previously classified plans regarding the makeup, advance movements and mission of a U.S. Naval battle group as it was to transit from California to its deployment in the Middle East. The document discussed the battle group's perceived vulnerability to terrorist attack. Ahsan is alleged to have possessed, accessed and modified the electronic battle group document in April 2001.

"Homeland Security Investigations continues to use every available resource to protect the American public from those who would compromise our national security through terrorism," said ICE Director John Morton. "This extradition demonstrates law enforcement's resolve to bring to justice anyone who supports those who would target American interests at home or abroad. As a result of HSI's extraordinary cooperation with our British partners, Ahmad and Ahsan will now face justice for their alleged crimes in a U.S. courtroom."

"This has been a lengthy process, but the government's commitment to presenting this case to a jury during a fair and open trial has never wavered," said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein, District of Connecticut. "The allegations contained in the indictments, which include promotion of terrorism and conspiracy to murder persons living abroad, are as serious today as when they were initially charged. I commend Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI and the many other law enforcement agencies here and in the U.K. for investigating this matter. I also want to acknowledge the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Department of Justice attachés at the U.S. Embassy in London and the attorneys and staff at the Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs who have seamlessly coordinated with us during this extradition process."

"Today, more than at any other time in U.S. history, terrorism investigations involve the identification, disruption and dismantling of material and financial support systems," said Kimberly K. Mertz, special agent in charge of the FBI New Haven Division. "Without those support systems, terrorists and terrorist groups simply cannot survive. This investigation underscores Homeland Security Investigations' and the FBI's enduring commitment to combating terrorism by uprooting these global and often complex support networks."

This case is being investigated by a task force in Connecticut led by HSI. Other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation include: FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force; Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Criminal Investigation Division; IRS, Criminal Investigation Electronic Crimes Program; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

U.S. Attorney Fein praised the substantial efforts of law enforcement authorities from the Metropolitan Police Service's Anti-Terrorist Branch and the Extradition and International Assistance Unit, both within New Scotland Yard, whose efforts and assistance have been essential in the investigation in this case. U.S. Attorney Fein also thanked the U.S. Marshals Service for its assistance in the extradition of the defendants.

The case is being prosecuted by a team of federal prosecutors including Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Reynolds, District of Connecticut; and Attorneys Sharon Lever and Alexis Collins from the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.