AP News, April 30th, 2007
The federal government intends to use evidence gathered from secretly issued search warrants to prosecute an Ohio man accused of joining al-Qaida and plotting to bomb European resorts, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Christopher Paul, 43, was arrested April 11 outside his Columbus apartment. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, which carries the most serious penalty of up to life in prison.
Evidence against Paul was obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, The Columbus Dispatch reported, citing court papers. Before monitoring phone calls and e-mails or conducting searches, government agents must obtain warrants from a secret FISA court.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana M. Peters and Sylvia Kaser of the Justice Department's counterterrorism section said in the court papers they will use evidence that came from monitoring phone calls or electronic communication obtained under the act.
Jim Gilbert, one of Paul's attorneys, declined to comment when asked by the newspaper if he would challenge the validity of the search warrants.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Columbus, Fred Alverson, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Sunday.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost scheduled a hearing May 16 on classified evidence.
An indictment alleges Paul learned hand-to-hand combat and the use of grenades and firearms at an al-Qaida camp in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, then joined the terrorist group in Pakistan and told al-Qaida members he was dedicated to committing violent jihad, or holy war.
Court records link Paul to Nuradin Abdi, who is accused of plotting to blow up a shopping mall. A laser range finder and a night vision scope seized from Paul's residence are listed among items that the government intends to use as evidence in Abdi's case, according to the records. Abdi, also of Columbus, is scheduled for trial in September.
