Fourth suspect freed pending trial
By David Koenig
The Associated Press
DALLAS - A fourth defendant accused of using a Texas-based charity to help finance
terrorists was ordered released from jail Tuesday by a federal magistrate who noted that
instead of fleeing the United States, he had testified before the grand jury that eventually
indicted him.
Abdulrahman Odeh pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges including conspiracy, aiding a
terrorist group and money laundering. The 45-year-old operator of a delicatessen in
Paterson, N.J., was ordered to stand trial in October.
Odeh was the New Jersey director of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and
Development, which federal prosecutors and the grand jury in Dallas accused of being a
financial supporter of the Middle Eastern terrorist group Hamas.
Three other former Holy Land officials, including the former president and former
chairman, were released last week. Like Odeh, they were ordered to stay mostly at home
and wear electronic monitors while they await trial.
In all, seven former Holy Land employees and the organization were named last month in
a 42-count indictment -- announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft -- charging them
with raising funds for Hamas under the guise of operating a Muslim charity. Holy Land was
raided and shut down in late 2002.
Two men named in the indictment fled the country and are fugitives, according to
authorities. The last man, Mohammad El-Mezain, director of Holy Land's California office
in San Diego, also appeared Tuesday in court in Dallas. A hearing on his possible release
was set for Wednesday.
In seeking to keep Odeh behind bars, prosecutor James Jacks said Odeh set up
fund-raising events that were secretly designed to fund Hamas, picked up Hamas officials
at the airport for the events and broke up bank deposits into smaller amounts to avoid
drawing attention to Holy Land's activities.
Odeh's attorney, Hamdi Rifai, said his client did nothing wrong and many events named in
the indictment occurred before he joined the group in 1994.
Magistrate Irma Ramirez ruled that Odeh wasn't a flight risk because he stayed in the
country and testified to the grand jury even after Holy Land was raided.
Odeh was born in Palestine and became a U.S. citizen about 15 years ago, his lawyer
said. His wife and three children, all U.S. citizens, moved to Jordan in late 2001, Rifai said.
