Anti-terror agents arrest seven in Raleigh

Officials arrested seven North Carolina residents Monday on charges they supported terrorism by recruiting people to fight and plotted a series of attacks overseas.

Posted 8:41 p.m. Jul 27, 2009 — Updated 9:59 p.m. Jul 28, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. — Officials arrested seven North Carolina residents Monday on charges they supported terrorism by recruiting people to fight and plotted a series of attacks overseas.

Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, Hysen Sherifi, 24, Anes Subasic, 33, Zakariya Boyd, 20, Dylan Boyd, 22, Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22, and Ziyad Yaghi, 21, have been charged with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap and injure persons abroad, the Justice Department announced Monday.

According to the indictment unsealed Monday, Daniel Boyd, also known as "Saifullah," and the other defendants conspired to provide resources to terrorists from roughly November 2006 through at least July 2009.

Daniel Boyd, of 134 Lakeside Circle in Willow Spring, trained at terrorist camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan between 1989 and 1992 before returning to the United States, the indictment stated.

Daniel Boyd was also accused of soliciting money last year to fund others’ travel overseas to take part in “violent jihad,” according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleges that Daniel Boyd obtained a variety of weapons to use toward his goal of murdering people and providing material support to terrorists.

The indictment alleges some of the defendants recently practiced military tactics and using of weapons on private property in Caswell County.

A federal grand jury returned a sealed seven-count indictment against the defendants Wednesday.

The defendants were arrested at various locations and made their first court appearances Monday. At that time, the indictment was unsealed.

“These charges hammer home the point that terrorists and their supporters are not confined to the remote regions of some far away land but can grow and fester right here at home. Terrorists and their supporters are relentless and constant in their efforts to hurt and kill innocent people across the globe. We must be equally relentless and constant in our efforts to stop them,” United States Attorney George E.B. Holding said in a statement.

All of the defendants are U.S. citizens, except Sherifi, who is legal U.S. permanent resident. The suspects had Raleigh addresses, expect for Subasic, who resided in Holly Springs, and Daniel Boyd, who lived in Willow Spring, according to the indictment.

Daniel Boyd, Sherifi and Zakariya Boyd are facing an additional charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Daniel Boyd and Dylan Boyd are also charged with selling a firearm to a convicted felon, according to the indictment.

In addition, Daniel Boyd is charged with receiving a firearm through interstate commerce and two counts of making false statements in a terrorism investigation.

Each of the defendants faces potential life imprisonment if convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and injure people abroad. In addition, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists carries a maximum 15 year sentence.

The defendants are due back in court Thursday morning.

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