A Texas man who had been in contact with the late US-born Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi was found guilty Monday of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, officials said.
A judge delivered the verdict against Barry Walter Bujol, a 30-year-old Hempstead, Texas, resident, according to a Justice Department statement.
Prosecutors said the charges stemmed from an investigation begun in 2009 by the FBI, which employed an undercover agents who purported to be a recruiter for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and offered to help Bujol pursue his goal of conducting “violent jihad.”
Evidence at trial showed that Bujol had been in contact with Awlaqi, an AQAP leader who was killed September 30 in an air raid in Yemen hailed by President Barack Obama as a “major blow” to terrorists.
Awlaqi “replied to Bujol’s e-mails by sending Bujol a document entitled ’42 Ways of Supporting Jihad,” according to prosecutors.
Bujol was arrested on May 30, 2010, after boarding a ship docked at the Port of Houston, which Bujol believed was bound for Algeria where he would stay at an Al Qaeda safe house before continuing on to Yemen.
In 2009, Bujol made three attempts to travel to the Middle East, but was thwarted by law enforcement, which arranged for undercover agents to meet him. Bujol told one agent he wanted to fight with the “mujahideen.”
On a video shown at trial, he told his wife that he had left her suddenly to pursue “jihad” and would not see her until the afterlife.
The verdict was returned today in Houston federal court by US District Judge David Hittner after a bench trial.
“The prosecution of this case and its result should serve as a deterrent and sends a clear message to anyone contemplating the illegal support of terrorist organizations,” said US Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
“This office will continue to vigorously pursue all cases involving those who attempt to engage in similar illegal activities.”
Bujol requested a bench trial which lasted nearly four days, during which he acted as his own attorney.
He faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison for the terrorism charge and an additional five years for aggravated identity theft along with a $250,000 fine.