Sudbury Man Convicted of Terrorism Appeals Sentence

A Sudbury man is appealing a conviction for terrorism, his lawyer arguing that prosecutors withheld information during the trial, reports WCVB-TV.

Tarek Mehanna was sentenced to 17 years for being convicted on providing material to support al-Qaida.

Mehanna was convicted in 2011 on charges that he conspired to kill Americans. He was sentenced after a two-hour hearing in the U.S. District Court in Boston to 210 months, followed by seven years of supervised release.

The trial lasted eight weeks, and Mehanna was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida, providing material support to terrorists (and conspiracy to do so), conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, conspiracy to make false statements to the FBI, and two counts of making false statements.

Testimony revealed that Mehanna and co-conspirators discussed wishing to participate in jihad against American interests, and attempted to radicalize others by distributing videos. They traveled to the Middle East in 2004 to seek military-type training at a terrorist camp to prepare them.

Mehenna returned to the States and continued to provide support materials, including translating and posting on the Internet al Quada recruitment videos.

A “Free Tarek Mehanna” page was erected in support of the convict, stating “For several years Tarek has been a victim of FBI surveillance and harassment. When Tarek refused to backstab the Mus lim community and be an informant for the FBI, they continually threatened him before taking an opportunity to arrest him in 2008. While Tarek was out on bail, FBI agents raided his home with an arrest warrant on October 21st, 2009.”