Guilty Verdict Returned In Holy Land Foundation Case
November 25, 2008
After a mistrial was declared in the first prosecution of the case, guilty verdicts were handed down by a jury in Dallas Monday afternoon.
The Holy Land Foundation and five of its former organizers were found guilty on 108 charges related to funneling more than $12 million to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas since it was designated a terrorist organization in 1995. The government shut down the Holy Land Foundation in 2001.
Ghassan Elashi, Holy Land’s former chairman, and Shukri Abu-Baker, the chief executive, were convicted on a combined 69 counts, including supporting a specially designated terrorist, money laundering and tax fraud.
Convicted on three conspiracy counts were Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh. A fifth defendant, Mohammed El-Mezain, was convicted of 1 count of conspiracy to support a terrorist organization.
The foundation was convicted on all of the 32 charges it faced.
No sentencing date has been set, but the punishments could be severe. Supporting a terrorist organization carries a maximum 15-year sentence on each count; money laundering carries a maximum 20 years on each conviction.
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