Court Case

USA v. Shehadeh, Abdel Hameed

October 2010 (Updated May 8, 2020)
Staten Island, NY
Taliban

[EDNY] Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, a former Staten Island resident living in Hawaii, has been charged with lying about a failed attempt to join the Taliban in Pakistan. Several weeks after Shehadeh's botched attempt to join the Taliban in Pakistan, he tried to enlist in the U.S. Army at a recruitment station in Times Square. Shehadeh's application was denied when it was discovered that he had concealed his trip to Pakistan. In March 2013, Shehadeh was convicted of making false statements in a matter involving international terrorism. In April 2020, Shehadeh wrote to a Brooklyn federal judge that he was a changed man who feared he might die from a COVID-19 infection. But federal prosecutors in a memorandum filed on May 8, 2020, noted that only six inmates at the Lewis Run, Pa., jail had tested positive for COVID-19, and that none of those cases were currently "active." They also argued that Shehaded's pulmonary embolism did not put him at higher risk if he were to contract the virus.

Case Updates

2020-05-08 | Staten Island Man Convicted of Lying to Feds About Jihad Plans Wants to Get Out of Prison to Avoid Coronavirus

A Staten Island man convicted of lying to the feds about his plans to engage in violent jihad abroad wants to get out of his Pennsylvania prison to avoid coronavirus - but prosecutors say he's not worthy of early release. Abdel Hameed Shehadeh, 30, wrote to a Brooklyn federal judge in late April that he was a changed man who feared he might die from the disease. "I was a naive, gullible 18-year-old at the time of my indicted actions," he wrote in a handwritten application. "Arrested at 20 years young, I am now 30 years old - 45 weeks away from potential release and COVID-19 is proving to be a dangerous and potentially fatal obstacle." But federal prosecutors noted Friday that only six inmates at the Lewis Run, Pa., jail had tested positive for COVID-19, and that none of those cases were currently "active." They also argued that Shehaded's pulmonary embolism did not put him at higher risk if he were to contract the virus.

Case Documents