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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/us/nationalspecial3/12sentence.html
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American Gets Prison for Lying About Hamas
By LIBBY SANDER
Published: July 12, 2007
CHICAGO, July 11 — A onetime grocer from suburban Chicago who was convicted of lying in a civil lawsuit about his ties to the militant Palestinian organization Hamas was sentenced on Wednesday in Federal District Court to 21 months in prison.
In February, a federal jury acquitted the defendant, Muhammad Salah, 54, and another man of taking part in a racketeering conspiracy to provide money and other support to Hamas.
But the jury convicted Mr. Salah of obstruction of justice for lying about his involvement with Hamas in a related civil case brought by the family of an American teenager, David Boim, who was shot and killed in Israel by Hamas militants in 1996. The family had sued Mr. Salah and a number of Islamic charities, saying they had raised money for Hamas.
Judge Amy J. St. Eve said the sentence was meant as a deterrent to others who might seek to undermine the “truth-telling function” of the judicial system.
“It is important to promote respect for the law,” Judge St. Eve said. “You cannot lie in a courtroom.”
She also imposed a $25,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and three years of probation. The 21-month sentence was the minimum recommended by federal sentencing guidelines; prosecutors had sought 10 years.
As the judge read the sentence before the packed courtroom, Mr. Salah, arms crossed, showed no reaction. Afterward, outside the courtroom, he wiped tears from his eyes.
Mr. Salah was born in a Palestinian refugee camp and later became a United States citizen. He spent four years in an Israeli prison in the mid-1990s after admitting to providing money and other aid to Hamas for its use in attacks on Israel.
He has maintained that his admissions to the Israeli secret police — upon which federal prosecutors based much of their racketeering case — were coerced, and that his involvement with Hamas, which was not designated a terrorist organization by the United States government until 1997, was only for humanitarian reasons.
Michael E. Deutsch, Mr. Salah’s lawyer, had argued for probation and said he was disappointed with the sentence. He said he had not decided whether to appeal.
By LIBBY SANDER
Published: July 12, 2007
CHICAGO, July 11 — A onetime grocer from suburban Chicago who was convicted of lying in a civil lawsuit about his ties to the militant Palestinian organization Hamas was sentenced on Wednesday in Federal District Court to 21 months in prison.
In February, a federal jury acquitted the defendant, Muhammad Salah, 54, and another man of taking part in a racketeering conspiracy to provide money and other support to Hamas.
But the jury convicted Mr. Salah of obstruction of justice for lying about his involvement with Hamas in a related civil case brought by the family of an American teenager, David Boim, who was shot and killed in Israel by Hamas militants in 1996. The family had sued Mr. Salah and a number of Islamic charities, saying they had raised money for Hamas.
Judge Amy J. St. Eve said the sentence was meant as a deterrent to others who might seek to undermine the “truth-telling function” of the judicial system.
“It is important to promote respect for the law,” Judge St. Eve said. “You cannot lie in a courtroom.”
She also imposed a $25,000 fine, 100 hours of community service and three years of probation. The 21-month sentence was the minimum recommended by federal sentencing guidelines; prosecutors had sought 10 years.
As the judge read the sentence before the packed courtroom, Mr. Salah, arms crossed, showed no reaction. Afterward, outside the courtroom, he wiped tears from his eyes.
Mr. Salah was born in a Palestinian refugee camp and later became a United States citizen. He spent four years in an Israeli prison in the mid-1990s after admitting to providing money and other aid to Hamas for its use in attacks on Israel.
He has maintained that his admissions to the Israeli secret police — upon which federal prosecutors based much of their racketeering case — were coerced, and that his involvement with Hamas, which was not designated a terrorist organization by the United States government until 1997, was only for humanitarian reasons.
Michael E. Deutsch, Mr. Salah’s lawyer, had argued for probation and said he was disappointed with the sentence. He said he had not decided whether to appeal.
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