Two brothers were found guilty Friday of running a cigarette smuggling operation that sent some of its profits to the Lebanese group Hizbullah.
A jury convicted Mohamad Hammoud, 28, and his 37-year-old brother Shawki in a scheme that involved buying cigarettes in North Carolina and resold them in Michigan without paying Michigan's higher taxes. Mohamad Hammoud admitted the scheme on the witness stand, while his brother's lawyer claimed Shawki Hammoud had no role in the operation.
But the smuggling was only half of the story, reported Fox News web site. The smuggling ring, jurors concluded, was operating as a support cell for Hizbullah.
The Lebanon-born brothers were found guilty of membership in the cell, and Mohamad Hammoud, who prosecutors accused of being the cell's leader, was found guilty of providing material support to Hizbullah.
Mohamad Hammoud faces up to 155 years in prison, and that maximum could be increased if U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen finds that Hammoud lied when he took the stand in his own defense. His brother, Shawki faces up to 70 years.
Prosecutors said that the brothers gained permanent resident status in the U.S. through sham marriages and after arrival set up the smuggling ring, which operated out of Charlotte. Evidence linking the brothers to Hizbullah included propaganda found in their homes and wiretapped conversations.
Defense attorneys said, however, that the evidence suggested the opposite. Deke Falls, Mohamad Hammoud's lawyer, said a Hizbullah operative would probably try to avoid detection, a goal exactly the opposite of his client's open ideological support of the group. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
