Man Convicted of Taking Part in Bomb Plot

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Algerian national Ahmed Ressam of terrorism charges Friday in connection with a bombing plot, just hours after he was found guilty in absentia in France.

Ressam, 33, stood stoically at first, then closed his eyes and rocked back on his heels slightly as the jury convicted him of nine counts--including conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism.

He was arrested in Washington state Dec. 14, 1999, and charged in connection with a suspected plot to bomb unknown locations in the United States around New Year’s Day 2000.

Surrounded by his three public defenders, Ressam sat and wept quietly after the verdicts were announced shortly after 5 p.m. Friday.

“This is a case where an individual was sent to the United States to do an immense amount of damage and strike fear in the American public,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Andrew R. Hamilton said outside U.S. District Court. “We are very thankful for what the jury did today.”

Hours earlier, Ressam, who once lived in France, and several other men were convicted of terrorism-related charges in Paris. A French court sentenced Ressam to five years in prison for belonging to a support network for Islamic militants.

The Los Angeles jurors, who declined to comment, deliberated for 10 hours over two days. Deliberations began Thursday after a four-week trial that included 110 witnesses, more than 500 exhibits and a long trail of evidence linking Ressam to what prosecutors said was an organized terrorist conspiracy.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the result,” said Michael Filipovic, one of three public defenders assigned to represent Ressam.

The defendant was “obviously upset with the result,” said Filipovic. “He’s not expressing anger. He’s just very sad.”

Defense lawyers said they would appeal the case. They said Ressam’s conviction on the count of conspiracy to commit an act of international terrorism is particularly controversial because it is based on a virtually untested federal statute. That terrorism count alone could bring Ressam 25 years in prison.

He faces as much as 130 years in prison when sentenced June 28 in Seattle. The case was moved from Seattle to Los Angeles for trial because of publicity and security concerns.

Ressam was arrested after a ferry ride from Canada when a U.S. Customs Service agent in Port Angeles, Wash., became suspicious of his nervous behavior. When agents opened the trunk of his rental car, they found more than 130 pounds of explosive compounds and four bomb-timing devices hidden in the spare tire well.

Ressam fled, but was quickly arrested. Within hours, the U.S. and Canadian governments launched what became one of the largest international terrorism investigations ever on North American soil.

Authorities linked Ressam to what they said was an organized conspiracy by Islamic extremists who were using tactics they learned in terrorist training camps in Afghanistan financed by exiled Saudi militant Osama bin Laden.

Another man was indicted as Ressam’s co-conspirator, and two other alleged associates were indicted in New York on charges of trying to help Ressam launch a terrorist attack.

One of those men, Abdelghani Meskini, entered a plea agreement in New York and testified against Ressam. His testimony linked Ressam to Islamic extremists operating out of Montreal and, indirectly, to the terrorist training camps.

No explosives were ever detonated in the bomb plot, and authorities never determined the targets. During the trial, prosecutors suggested that Ressam might have been targeting Seattle and Los Angeles, but told the jury that they were not required to show specific targets or even to prove Ressam’s motives or specific role in the conspiracy.

During the trial, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour forbade prosecutors to talk about Bin Laden, and excluded much testimony that they wanted to use to link Ressam and other alleged conspirators to a global network of terrorist “sleeper cells.”

In response, the three federal prosecutors focused their case narrowly, using a parade of witnesses, credit card receipts, fingerprints and DNA evidence to link Ressam to key elements of the bomb plot.

Defense lawyers tried to portray Ressam as a naive newcomer to Montreal who was used by fellow Algerian expatriates to smuggle the explosives into the United States. Ressam, they said, was a courier who was unaware that the explosives were in the trunk of his car or did not know their significance.

But late Friday, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jerry Diskin said jurors relied on forensic evidence that linked Ressam to the explosives and home-made timing devices, the Vancouver motel room where the bomb components allegedly were mixed and the rental car he was driving when he was arrested.

Diskin said the 17 Ressam fingerprints that the FBI found on the bomb timers were particularly incriminating. Also incriminating was a piece of wire used to make the timers that was found in the Vancouver motel room and residue of explosives found on a pair of pants and shoes in Ressam’s Montreal apartment, he said.

Ressam also was found guilty of placing an explosive in proximity to a ferry terminal, using false identification documents, smuggling, transporting explosives and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony.

In addition to the nine charges, the jurors found that his actions were committed in connection with a crime of violence, which under federal sentencing guidelines could result in a longer sentence.

“I would anticipate that he will receive a substantial sentence,” Diskin said of Ressam.

Canada worked closely with U.S. authorities and did much of the investigation in Montreal and Vancouver. Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay said in a statement that the verdict “sends a strong message to terrorists who would attempt to operate in North America. . . . Canada, like other countries, is continuing to adapt in order to deal with terrorist threats.”

Ressam’s co-defendant Abdelmajid Dahoumane is in custody in Algeria and will be tried there on charges of participating in terrorist organizations.