United States v. Amri

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. SOUFIAN AMRI and MICHAEL QUEEN, Defendants.

1:17-cr-50 (LMB)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Alexandria Division

July 31, 2017

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Defendants Soufian Amri ("Amri") and Michael Queen ("Queen") (collectively, "defendants") came before the Court for a criminal bench trial on a partially stipulated record, having executed a knowing and voluntary waiver of their right to a trial by jury. [Dkt. 53]. Although the defendants have stipulated to the factual record, which is quoted verbatim in this opinion, they reserved the right to raise numerous objections and to argue whether the stipulated facts were sufficient to support conviction. For the reasons that follow, all but one of the defendant's evidentiary objections will be denied, Amri will be found guilty of the charges in Counts 1, 2, and 4, Queen will be found guilty of the charges in Counts 1 and 5, both defendants will be acquitted of the charge in Count 3, and the sentencing enhancement element in Counts 4 and 5 will be applied because the government has proven it beyond a reasonable doubt.

I. THE INDICTMENT

Count 1 charges that from June 24, 2016 until July 8, 2016, in Fairfax County, the defendants unlawfully and knowingly conspired (1) to corruptly persuade, and engage in misleading conduct toward, another person with the intent to hinder, delay, and prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer of the United States; and (2) to willfully conceal a material fact, and to make a materially false statement in a matter involving international terrorism, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. [Dkt. 31] at 1-2. In furtherance of the conspiracy, the indictment alleges that at least seven overt acts were committed, including that: (1) Amri told Queen that the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") was asking questions about whether they knew anyone who supported ISIS, or attempted to travel overseas to join ISIS; (2) Amri told Queen not to mention Haris Qamar ("Qamar"), a mutual friend of theirs; and (3) Amri and Queen both falsely told the FBI that the only person they knew who might support ISIS was a "tall, thin, Indian" man. Id. at 2-3.

Count 2 charges that on June 24, 2016, Amri knowingly and unlawfully attempted to corruptly persuade Queen to prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer of information relating to the possible commission of a federal offense by attempting to persuade Queen to refrain from disclosing to the FBI Qamar's support for ISIS and attempted overseas travel, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b). Id. at 4.

Count 3 charges that on June 24, 2016, both defendants knowingly and unlawfully engaged in misleading conduct toward another person with the intent to prevent the communication to a law enforcement officer of the United States of information relating to the possible commission of a federal offense by telling the FBI that the only person they knew who might support ISIS was a "tall, thin, Indian" man when in fact they knew that Qamar had expressed support for ISIS and attempted to travel overseas to join ISIS, all in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b). Id. at 5.

Counts 4 and 5 respectively charge Amri and Queen with knowingly and willfully making material false statements to the FBI by telling agents that the only person they knew who might support ISIS was a "tall, thin, Indian" man for the purpose of concealing Qamar's support for ISIS, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a). These counts further allege that these offenses "involved international terrorism" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 2331.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

The parties have stipulated, and the Court finds, that the following facts are true and that the government could have proven them beyond a reasonable doubt at trial¹:

1. Soufian Amri is a 31-year-old native-born United States citizen living in Falls Church, Virginia. Michael Queen is a 27-year-old native-born United States citizen living in Woodbridge, Virginia. Amri and Queen work in Fairfax, Virginia, at a gaming center business with high-speed internet access that they jointly own.

2. Haris Qamar is a United States citizen born in 1990, and who, until July 2016, resided in Burke, Virginia and was a frequent supporter of ISIS on the internet. In 2015 and 2016, Qamar used scores of variations of the handle "newerajihadi" (such as "newerajihadi21; newerajihadi22; newerajihadi23, etc.) to make posts on Twitter that were openly supportive of the Islamic State. As Twitter, Inc. closed older accounts, Qamar opened newer ones with higher numbers appended to the "newerajihadi" body.

3. This stipulation refers to a Confidential Witness ("CW"), who is a United States citizen and has provided information to the FBI since 2013. None of the information provided by CW has been shown to be unreliable. CW receives money from the FBI for services provided by CW.

4. CW met Qamar in September 2015. Between that time and Qamar's arrest in July 2016, they met in person on numerous occasions, and followed each other on social media. Except for their meetings on September 6, 2015, and September 11, 2015, all conversations between CW and Qamar are documented on recordings provided to the FBI by CW.

5. CW reported that, in addition to supporting ISIL on Twitter, Qamar regularly voiced support for ISIS to his friends, and expressed his love of violence. According to CW, Amri and Queen knew that Qamar watched ISIS videos at the gaming center they owned and operated.

6. On September 11, 2015, a "kill list" was posted to the internet by terrorists connected with ISIS, containing the names and addresses of members of the U.S. military. A few days later, Qamar told CW that the residences of several soldiers who appeared on that "kill list" were near Qamar's own home, and that Qamar had observed undercover police cars near those residences. On October 29, 2015, and again on May 12, 2016, Qamar reminded CW of the addresses on the kill list, and told CW the name of the street.

7. On September 16, 2015, from Twitter account with handle @newerajihadi20 [sic], Qamar tweeted his prayer that Allah "give strength to the mujahideen to slaughter every single US military officer."

8. On March 19, 2016, in response to a post by another Twitter user regarding damages done by airstrikes in the ISIL capital of Raqqa, Syria, the user of the Twitter account with the handle @newerajihadi79 posted "May Allah swt take revenge on kuffar and kill their families."

9. Two residences on the list are, in fact, within two miles of Qamar's residence. In light of Qamar's statement to CW that Qamar observed undercover police cars near those residences, the FBI suspected that Qamar likely drove past those residences after their occupants were included on the "kill list."

10. In a conversation recorded by CW on September 25, 2015, Qamar told CW that Qamar tried to join ISIS in 2014, but Qamar's parents prevented him from traveling overseas. Qamar said his parents threatened to notify law enforcement authorities. Qamar also said he fought with his father and called his father a traitor to Islam. In a conversation recorded on March 16, 2016, Qamar told CW that he bought a plane ticket and lost $700 because he could not travel without his passport.

11. In 2015 and 2016, SOUFIAN AMRI and MICHAEL QUEEN were friends with Qamar. Qamar spent a significant amount of time at the gaming center that AMRI and QUEEN operated. They knew that Qamar was a frequent supporter of ISIS on the internet, and they knew that he had planned to travel to join ISIS in 2014 and had purchased an airline ticket to do so.

12. On June 24, 2016, FBI agents interviewed AMRI at the business he shares with QUEEN, in part to learn additional information about Qamar, including but not limited to his attempted travel to join ISIS, and in part about a pro-ISIS Facebook post made by QUEEN. The FBI agents told AMRI that lying to the FBI is a federal offense. Amri was asked if he knew anyone who voiced support for ISIS. He stated "particularly, not really . . . that comes here no." AMRI also said that he knew one person who-long ago-mentioned traveling for the purpose of joining ISIS. AMRI described that individual as a tall, thin, Indian kid, whom AMRI had not seen for a long time.

13. Later that day, FBI agents observed AMRI talking to QUEEN at their business, and then interviewed QUEEN. The FBI agents explained to QUEEN that lying to the FBI is a federal offense. QUEEN said that he did not know of anyone who voiced support for ISIS or posted pro-ISIS materials online. QUEEN identified the tall Indian individual referenced by AMRI as "Sunite," but said that he did not know if Sunite was serious about supporting ISIS. QUEEN also said that he did not know of anybody who tried to travel overseas for the purpose of joining ISIS.

14. On June 28, 2016, a confidential witness ("CW") recorded a conversation between QUEEN, Qamar, and the CW. In that conversation, QUEEN told Qamar and the CW about the FBI interviews on June 24, 2016. QUEEN said the FBI asked if QUEEN and AMRI knew anyone who was going to join ISIS, or otherwise was pro-ISIS. QUEEN told them he said to the FBI, "I don't know, we threw some . . . Hindu dude that we used to know underneath the bus." QUEEN said, "I'm never going to throw a Muslim underneath the bus to try to do the right thing."

15. Later that day, in another conversation recorded by the CW, Qamar told the CW that, after the FBI interviews, QUEEN told Qamar to be careful because the FBI was asking about anyone who supported ISIS. Qamar told the CW that QUEEN said when he (QUEEN) first heard about the FBI agents at his business, QUEEN immediately thought the FBI was there about Qamar.

16. On July 1, 2016, in another conversation recorded by the CW, AMRI told the CW that he told the FBI on June 24 that he had previously supported ISIS. When the CW asked why, AMRI responded, "[B]ecause with those guys you have to play along with

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