Hassan Abujihaad
Born
Paul Raphael Hall

1976 (age 47–48)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationUnited States Navy sailor (1998 to 2002, honorably discharged)[1]
Spouse
Takia Haji
​
​
(m. 2000; div. 2005)​
Children2

Hassan Abujihaad (born Paul R. Hall; 1976) is a former sailor in the United States Navy convicted of supporting terrorism.

A native of Phoenix, Arizona[2] and a convert to Islam, Abujihaad was convicted of disclosing the location of Navy ships and their weaknesses to an online forum in April 2001 while serving as a naval signalman on board the USS Benfold.[2]

Early life

Abujihaad grew up in Southern California. He legally changed his name from Paul Raphael Hall to Hassan Abujihaad in 1997, and enlisted in the Navy in January 1998.[1][3] He was honorably discharged in 2002.[4][5]

Abujihaad married Takia Haji in 2000. He filed for divorce in 2005 and was awarded sole custody of their two children during the following year.[6] He occasionally attended the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix,[6] which is also the mosque that Elton Simpson, one of the gunmen shot dead in the attempted Curtis Culwell Center attack of May 2015, attended.[7][8]

Arrest, trial, and conviction

Police arrested Abujihaad in March 2007 in Phoenix, Arizona.[9] He entered a plea of not guilty on April 4, 2007. On March 5, 2008, he was convicted by a jury in New Haven, Connecticut.[6] Federal prosecutors said the then-32-year-old had admitted disclosing military intelligence.[1] He was sentenced to ten years in prison, the maximum penalty for the crime.[10]

In 2009, the Sunday Mercury reported that Abujihaad's first link to terrorism came at the Maktabah Al Ansar bookstore in Sparkhill, Birmingham, England.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "NY Appeals Court OKs Ex-Sailor's Terror Conviction". CBS New York. December 20, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 Sailor jailed for supporting terrorism, Independentonline.com; accessed May 5, 2015.
  3. ↑ Jennifer Medina (March 9, 2007). "Sailor Started E-Mail on Terror, U.S. Says". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2015. According to public records, Mr. Abujihaad was previously known as Paul R. Hall and grew up in Southern California, east of Los Angeles.
  4. ↑ "Ex-US sailor convicted of spying". BBC News. 5 March 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2015. US-born Abujihaad had been honourably discharged from the navy in 2002.
  5. ↑ Jennifer Medina (March 9, 2007). "Sailor Started E-Mail on Terror, U.S. Says". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2015. Mr. Abujihaad enlisted in the Navy at age 19 and was on active duty from 1998 until 2002, when he was honorably discharged, according to the affidavit.
  6. 1 2 3 Sean Holstege (March 6, 2008). "Phoenix man guilty of aiding terrorists". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved May 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Accused Texas gunman well-known to FBI before attack". San Francisco Chronicle. May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ Scott Shane and Fernanda Santos (May 6, 2015). "Elton Simpson Eluded U.S. Inquiry Before Texas Shootout". The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2015. But when the F.B.I., worried about Mr. Simpson's association with a former Navy sailor from Phoenix sentenced to 10 years in a terror-related case...
  9. ↑ "The 'Unremarkable' Life Of A Sailor Turned Terror Suspect". Hartford Courant. February 24, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2015. March 7, 2007: Abu-jihaad is arrested in Phoenix and charged with supporting terrorism with an intent to kill U.S. citizens and transmitting classified information to unauthorized people.
  10. ↑ Christofferson, John (2009-04-03). "Ex-sailor sentenced to 10 years in terror case". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  11. ↑ "Sparkhill bookshop was the start of US Navy officer's link to terrorism". Sunday Mercury. 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
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