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Paleo Gets Five Years on Gun Charge
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A Palestinian man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for carrying a machine gun during target practice alongside members of an Oregon terror cell. Ali Khalid Steitiye, 42, will serve his sentence and then be deported to Lebanon, said his attorney, Noel Grefenson.
U.S. Attorney Charles Gorder said although Steitiye was present at target practice at the same Washington gravel pit as members of the Oregon terror cell in September 2001, the investigation concluded he was not part of the organization.
Steitiye, who has a previous gun possession conviction, has maintained he is not a terrorist. In court Tuesday, Steitiye read a prepared statement, saying he ``disagrees with many of the politics of this country, but I truly love it, and it will be very hard for me to leave.''
| But it will be very easy for us to throw you out. |
``I have never had a country of my own. I grew up in a refugee camp and when this sentence is done, I will return to that camp,'' he said. ``Where I come from, guns are as much a part of people's lives as cell phones are in this country ... My mistake and weakness is guns.''
| And hanging in the same vicinity as terrorists ... |
The so-called Portland Seven are accused of conspiring to travel to Afghanistan to help the Taliban fight the U.S. military. Six are serving prison terms of up to 18 years. The seventh, the alleged ringleader, was reported killed in an October 2003 crossfire shootout in Pakistan.
Steitiye was never charged along with members of the group, although he had been identified as a coconspirator in the indictment against them.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-06-01 |
