New Jersey
Prosecutor: Man eyed U.S. targets for terror attack
NEW YORK (AP) — A prosecutor told jurors in an opening statement Monday that a New Jersey software developer was actually a highly trained terrorist scoping out U.S. landmarks for attack from 2000 to 2005.
Alexei Saab, 45, of Morristown, New Jersey, had a double identity while he worked for Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization, ready to attack Americans at popular locations if Iran was attacked by the U.S., said Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Adelsberg.
By day, Saab was a software engineer working for technology companies who fit in enough that he became a U.S. citizen, the prosecutor said.
By night, he was “a terrorist and spy” scoping out potential terrorism targets in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and abroad in France, Turkey and the Czech Republic, Adelsberg said.
Saab was arrested in July 2019 after being questioned during 11 sessions over several weeks with FBI agents.
Saab’s lawyer, Marlon Kirton, said all the evidence in the case was from Saab himself and could not be considered reliable.
And he noted that Hezbollah had never attacked Americans in the United States.
In court documents, investigators said Saab told agents he took photographs of buildings and locations including Quincy Market and the Prudential Center in Boston and the Capitol Building, Congress and the White House in Washington, D.C. A video of Fenway Park was recovered from one of Saab’s electronic devices.
Adelsberg said the targets researched by Saab included Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, all three New York area airports, the Brooklyn, Triborough and George Washington bridges and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels connecting New Jersey to Manhattan, among other locations.
“On paper, he lived a normal life when in reality he was a sleeper agent for Hezbollah,” he said.
Besides surveillance activities in the United States, Adelsberg said Saab also operated abroad after joining Hezbollah in 1996. He said Saab tried to kill a man he later understood to be a suspected Israeli spy by pointing a weapon at the individual at close range, but the firearm jammed.
Saab is also facing a marriage fraud charge for allegedly marrying a co-conspirator in 2012 under false pretenses. Saab’s lawyer did not contest that charge.
Saab has pleaded not guilty to charges including providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy, receiving military-type training from a foreign terrorist organization, unlawful procurement of citizenship to facilitate international terrorism and citizenship application fraud.
The most serious charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison, though the charges collectively carry potential penalties of over 100 years in prison.
Massachusetts
Ex-police union chief pleads guilty to child abuse
BOSTON (AP) — A former Boston police officer who also once led the police union has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing six children and been sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.
Patrick Rose Sr., 67, wept in court on Monday as he listened to some of his victims deliver impact statements.
Rose had first faced child sexual abuse allegations in the mid-1990s. Criminal charges were eventually dropped, but an internal investigation concluded that Rose likely committed a crime. Yet he was allowed to keep his badge, and eventually served as president of the Boston Police Patrolman’s Association before retiring in 2018.
He was charged in August 2020 with sexually abusing a young girl. Several more people then came forward alleging they were abused by Rose.
He pleaded guilty to 21 counts of child rape and sexual assault that occurred over a 27-year period, involving victims ranging in age from 7 to 16, prosecutors said.
Rose had previously denied the charges but reached a plea deal with prosecutors that victims were on board with.
“I saw you for what you really are — a coward, a predator of the weak and the defenseless,” one victim said in court.
Another victim said Rose has lost his reputation as a protector.
“All you will ever be remembered as is another creep who has nothing going for him,” the victim said.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden praised the courage of the victims and said he hoped the plea brings a measure of healing.
“Anyone who was in that courtroom today knows the tremendous courage, fortitude and bravery that they withstood throughout this entire horrible incident. These are monstrous, monstrous acts,” he said outside of court.
Rose expressed remorse in a statement he read in court.
“I want to apologize for my despicable behavior,” he said. “I apologize to my former colleagues. I apologize to my former friends, but more importantly, the more important thing in my life, I apologize to my family. To those I hurt, I’m so very sorry.”
California
Man charged for threats to dictionary publisher
BOSTON (AP) — A California man’s online threats of violence against dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster Inc. over updated gender definitions have landed him in a Massachusetts federal court.
Merriam-Webster closed its main office in Springfield, Massachusetts, and another in New York City for five business days last year in response to comments from Jeremy David Hanson, prosecutors said. An email seeking comment was left Monday with a Merriam-Webster spokesperson.
Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, California also allegedly made anti-LGBTQ threats to other organizations.
Hanson was charged last week with interstate communication of threats to commit violence, according to statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston. He is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday in Springfield.
Prosecutors say Hanson threatened a shooting and bombing at the publisher, however the affidavit did not specify whether any weapons or explosives were found during the investigation.
If convicted, Hanson faces up to five years in prison.
In an interview with the FBI on Oct. 27, Hanson said he has obsessive-compulsive disorder, Asperger’s syndrome, anxiety and depression, and struggles with impulse control. He said he understands the threatening remarks he makes online are illegal, but is unable to control himself. His mother said in an interview with the FBI in May 2021 that he had no access to weapons.
No defense attorney is listed in court records. A home phone number for Hanson had been disconnected.
Prosecutors say Hanson sent Merriam-Webster threatening messages and comments between Oct. 2 and Oct. 8 using the website’s “contact us” function and in the comments section on its webpages that corresponded to word entries such as “girl,” “woman,” and “female,” prosecutors said.
One definition of “female” is “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.”
“It is absolutely sickening that Merriam-Webster now tells blatant lies and promotes anti-science propaganda,” Hanson wrote in one comment, according to prosecutors. “There is no such thing as ‘gender identity.’ “
The statements were traced back to an IP address linked to Hanson, the FBI said.
“Some statements expressed hostility toward different gender identities and some threatened bodily harm to people,” according to an FBI affidavit in the case.
The investigation identified several related threats over the past few years, according to prosecutors, including to the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Land O’ Lakes, Hasbro, and the president of the University of North Texas.
“Hate-filled threats and intimidations have no place in our society,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement. “We believe Hanson sent a multitude of anonymous threatening and despicable messages related to the LGBTQ community that were intended to evoke fear and division.”
New York
Pro football investor pleads guilty in cryptocurrency scheme
NEW YORK (AP) — A businessman who was one of the early investors in a failed professional football league called the Alliance of American Football pleaded guilty Monday to charges accusing him in a $600 million cryptocurrency scheme.
Reginald Fowler was charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and other offenses that prosecutors say contributed to the AAF’s quick demise in 2019.
The guilty plea in Manhattan federal court comes at a time when other fledgling leagues are making longshot bids to loosen the National Football League’s grip on pro football. In 2019, the AAF shut down after eight weeks when it ran out of money.
Fowler, 63, of Chandler, Arizona, was once known for trying to buy the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings in 2005. He ended up as a minority owner before his involvement in the team ended in 2014.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that as part of the crypto scheme, Fowler “helped process hundreds of millions of dollars of unregulated transactions on behalf of numerous cryptocurrency exchanges, skirting the anti-money laundering safeguards required of licensed institutions that ensure the U.S. financial system is not used for criminal purposes.”
Prosecutors also alleged that Fowler lied to AAF executives by claiming he controlled bank accounts with tens of millions of dollars from real estate investments and government contracts that he could use to invest in the league.
“Having accepted full responsibility in an open plea today, Reggie will have the opportunity to be heard at sentencing as to his understanding of the circumstances of the offenses and pivotal issues such as the proper amount of monetary loss attributable to Reggie,” defense attorney Edward Sapone said in a statement.
Florida
Man who damaged LGBTQ streetscape must write essay on Pulse
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of burning tire marks across a gay-pride streetscape in South Florida while participating in a rally for former President Donald Trump last summer must write a 25-page essay on the deadly 2016 shooting at a gay nightclub in the state.
A Palm Beach County circuit judge ordered Alexander Jerich, 20, of Lake Worth, to write the essay during a Thursday hearing, according to court records. The essay about the 49 people killed during the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando is due at a June 8 sentencing hearing for Jerich.
Jerich previously pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor reckless driving. Prosecutors are asking for 30 days in jail, community service and five years of probation, while defense attorneys argue for only community service and three years of probation.
Jerich joined a convoy of about 30 vehicles last June om Delray Beach to celebrate Trump’s birthday, officials said. A video that quickly went viral showed a white pickup truck adorned with a Trump flag and registered to Jerich’s father burning tire marks into a rainbow design painted on the road at an intersection.
Officials said the design had been unveiled just a day earlier to celebrate Pride Month, which is meant to promote LGBTQ rights.
