Chandia, your lies fall on unsympathetic ears.

Enjoy your 15 years.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/custom/attack/bal-paintball0825,0,1949055.story

Ex-Md. teacher sentenced for aiding terror group

He is one of 11 Muslim men convicted in alleged 'Virginia jihad network'

By Matthew Barakat
The Associated Press

August 25, 2006, 2:55 PM EDT

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A former third-grade teacher at a Muslim school in Maryland was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for providing support to a Pakistani terrorist organization.

Ali Asad Chandia, 29, who taught at the al-Huda school in College Park is one of 11 Muslim men convicted in what prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network." The network involved a group of men who played paintball in the Virginia woods in 2000 and 2001 as a means of training for global holy war.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, some group members turned their efforts against the United States, traveling to Pakistan with the goal of receiving military training and joining the Taliban in its fight against U.S. troops. None ever made it into Afghanistan.

Prosecutors argued that Chandia had attended a training camp run by Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. government designated as a terrorist organization in December 2001.

A jury did not convict Chandia of attending a Lashkar camp, but found him guilty of providing material support to a senior Lashkar officer on his trips to the U.S. in 2002 and 2003.

Specifically, Chandia was found guilty of serving as a driver for the Lashkar officer, Mohammed Ajmal Khan, and helping Lashkar ship 50,000 paintball pellets from the U.S. to Pakistan.

At his sentencing hearing today, Chandia maintained his innocence and said he would exact revenge against prosecutors in the afterlife.

"God knows well that I did not support any terrorists," Chandia said. "Those who participated in making my children orphans ... should just remember that the day of judgment is on the way."

He continued: "If my parents should die before me, I ask my mother to plead and complain to Allah that a piece of her heart was taken away because of some toy paintballs."

The sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton was less than the 30 years sought by prosecutors and more than the five-to-six-year range that defense lawyer Marvin Miller said would have been appropriate under the sentencing guidelines.

Miller noted that a 30-year sentence would be equal to that given to Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who was convicted of plotting with al-Qaida to assassinate President Bush, and significantly more than some in the paintball group received after accepting plea bargains and admitting that they traveled to Pakistan and received training from Lashkar with the goal of fighting U.S. troops.

"You have a school teacher who gave a guy a ride, let him use a computer and helped him ship some paintballs, and they want 30 years, and I wonder where justice is," Miller said.

Prosecutor David Laufman said lending support to Lashkar merits a stiff sentence.

"Lashkar-e-Taiba is not as well known as al-Qaida or Hezbollah, but it is a terrorist organization. It kills people," Laufman said.
Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press