Central Florida's growing Muslim population hosts its share of radical elements caught engaging in significant criminal activity. Among the latest snared by federal law enforcement efforts is Imam Abu Taubah, whose real name is Marcus Dwayne Robertson. As reported by Family Security Matters in January, Robertson was charged last year with federal firearms violations, having been a previously convicted felon found to be in unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Robertson had been the imam of the Masjid Al-Ihsaan mosque in Orlando. The property at that address is owned by the Istiqaamah Foundation Inc. The former name of the mosque was the Islamic Center of Orlando until it was changed in 1998. Robertson, also known as Taubah, is not identified in any of the Florida corporate documents for the mosque.

Robertson's criminal activity in central Florida did not end with his guilty plea to the gun charge. He awaits sentencing on that offense pending the outcome of yet another case involving Jonathan Paul Jimenez, who pleaded guilty on August 28 in Orlando to false claims and one count of making a false statement to a federal agency in a matter involving international terrorism. Robertson is implicated in the Jimenez case, accused of having trained Jimenez in martial arts, weapons usage and Islamic ideology in preparation for jihad. Robertson is also accused of helping to arrange overseas travel for Jimenez to support his jihadist endeavors. Robertson is scheduled for trial next month on those charges.

Robertson has a history of engaging in cooperative plea deals with prosecutors in exchange for lenient sentences, to include when he was originally arrested in New York City for bank robbery. The outcome of his pending Orlando federal cases, and if any new defendants are charged with jihad related offenses, will be worth watching.