Oakland Park men plead innocent to terrorism charges

Two Oakland Park brothers pleaded not guilty to terrorism conspiracy charges Friday at a brief hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30, and Raees Alam Qazi, 20, both U.S. citizens born in Pakistan, were arrested last week. They are charged with conspiring to detonate a weapon of mass destruction on U.S. soil and plotting to provide material support to terrorists.

Both men will remain locked up at the Broward County Main Jail without bond for now.

Raees Qazi's lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Daniel Ecarius, asked for a delay and his bond hearing was postponed to Dec. 17. The elder brother's defense attorney, Ronald Chapman, said he might seek a bond hearing at a later date though it's unlikely either brother will be released before trial because the charges are so serious.

If convicted, they face up to life in prison for the more serious count and 15 years for the charge of supporting terrorism.

Neither of the defendants said much in court.

Dressed in beige jail scrubs, they responded "Yes" when U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra asked them if they spoke English.

Family members did not attend the hearing, which lasted only a few minutes.

Prosecutors revealed no new details about the alleged plot during the hearing and defense lawyers for the men declined to comment.

"Mr. Qazi has asked me not to make a statement at this time," Chapman said.

Federal authorities have released little information about the ongoing investigation but said it was not the result of a sting operation. Prosecutors and the FBI would not identify the target, the kind of weapon or the terrorist group that were allegedly involved.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said the alleged plot was disrupted by investigators and the arrests of the men.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gilbert filed court documents late Thursday disclosing that some of the evidence in the case was obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA, often used to conduct surveillance on phone conversations and emails or other contacts with individuals overseas.

The brothers were arrested Nov. 29 on allegations they had been plotting to set off some form of explosive device and providing terrorists with money and other support in what prosecutors said was a conspiracy that had been going on from at least July 2011 up to the time of their arrests.

The men's brother told the Sun Sentinel in a Dec. 1 interview that neither one was involved in terrorism and their arrests were the result of a misunderstanding.

Like many immigrants, he said the family pooled money for savings – about $4,000 – and wired it to their hometown, Landi Arbab, near Peshawar in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. He said authorities may have thought the money was being funneled to a terrorist group.