A Toledo man was sentenced to five years in prison for sending money to terrorists and hiding his activity from authorities.
Sultane Salim previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to concealment of financing of terrorism. His brother, Asif Salim, was previously sentenced to six years in prison for the same offense.
During his sentencing hearing Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Sultane Salim described being questioned by FBI agents and how the court case has affected him and his family.
“Quite literally, I was in a state of shock,” he said.
In 2009, Sultane Salim wrote three checks totaling $15,000 and Asif Salim wrote one check for $2,000 that were deposited in the bank account Yahya Mohammad, who was living in the United Arab Emirates at the time, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Freeman previously said in court.
In an attempt to conceal the source of the money, Yahya Mohammad’s brother Ibrahim Mohammad paid tuition expenses and purchased a car for a relative attending the University of Toledo, and the relative's father repaid the amounts to Yahya Mohammad in the United Arab Emirates.
The money was ultimately delivered to Anwar al-Awlaki, a key leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2011.
Sultane Salim told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Helmick on Tuesday that the money was a loan repayment but that he lied to FBI agents about who the repayment was for and he never wanted to donate to terrorists or terrorist organizations. His defense attorney, Cherrefe Kadri, also argued that the money he gave to Yahya Mohammad was simply repayment for a loan.
But Judge Helmick determined that it was likely the money was in fact donated to support terrorism with Sultane Salim’s knowledge and approval.
If it was a loan repayment for a house that he bought in the early 2000s and then sold in 2006, as he previously told officials, then it doesn’t make sense that he would wait three years, until 2009, to repay the loan, especially when he sold his house for a profit, Judge Helmick said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Shepherd argued for the maximum sentence per the terms of the plea agreement, which was eight years in prison. He argued that because Sultane Salim is still trying to say the money was a loan and not a donation for terrorism, he has not accepted responsibility for his actions.
“He hasn’t fully accepted the seriousness of his conduct in this case,” Mr. Shepherd said.
Judge Helmick ordered that after his prison term, Sultane Salim will be on supervised release for 15 years. It was less time on supervision, the judge pointed out, than Sultane Salim’s brother received, which was a lifetime of supervision.
First Published January 15, 2019, 8:02 p.m.
