Waad Ramadan Alwan

Alwan to Serve Sentence in Indiana

Joe Corcoran — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:52:59 +0000

An Iraqi man sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism charges in Bowling Green has been assigned to a high-security facility in Indiana.

The federal Bureau of Prisons lists 32 year old Waad Ramadan Alwan as an inmate at United States Penitentiary-Terre Haute. The high security facility is about 70 miles west of Indianapolis. A co-defendant, 25 year old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, is serving life in prison at the United States Penitentiary-Big Sandy in Inez, KY.

Hammadi To Appeal Life Sentence

Associated Press — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 10:31:21 +0000

An Iraqi man who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges has filed a notice of appeal of his sentence of life in prison without parole.

Mohanad Shareef Hammadi intends to ask the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the sentence handed down in January after he pleaded guilty to working to ship thousands in cash, machine guns, rifles, grenades and shoulder-fired missiles to al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2011. U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell sentenced the 25 year old Hammadi in January in Bowling Green.

A co-defendant in the case received a 40 year sentence, he has not filed a notice of appeal.

Prosecutors say the two men were caught in an FBI sting with an informant posing as a contact with terrorists in Iraq.

Two Iraqis Receive Different Sentences in Kentucky's First Terrorism Trial

Lisa Autry — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:14:23 +0000

Two Iraqi citizens living in Bowling Green who admitted sending weapons and money to Al-Qaeda in Iraq were sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green. Both Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanned Shareef Hamaddi admitted taking part in insurgent activities in Iraq prior to arriving in the U.S. in 2009. Federal authorities found Alwan's fingerprint on an unexploded bomb in Iraq and launched an investigation.

The Iraqi men were arrested in 2011 after they agreed to help a government informant load cash and weapons into a tractor-trailer they were told was destined for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Over the course of five hours, each man separately received his punishment. First to enter the courtroom was the 31-year-old Alwan. Wearing prison orange, he sat next to his interpreter, and appeared unmoved by the piercing stares from the courtroom audience. Justice Department Attorney Larry Schneider said Alwan was interested in becoming the leader of a terrorist cell in the U.S. and that he recruited Hammadi, describing him as "worth his weight in gold," and as an "experienced" insurgent.

One Iraqi Sentenced to Life in Prison, Second to 40 Years in Bowling Green Terrorism Case

WKU Public Radio News — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:55:51 +0000

A federal judge sentenced one Iraqi man accused of entering into a terrorist plot in Bowling Green to a life sentence in prison, with a second man given a 40 year sentence.

Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi appeared at the William H. Natcher federal courthouse in Bowling Green Tuesday to receive sentencing for a serious of charges related to a plot to send weapons, explosives, and money to Al-Qaida in Iraq.

The 30-year-old Alwan was given 40 years in prison for his role in the plot. He could have received a life sentence, but Judge Thomas B. Russell went along with the recommendation of prosecutors to give a lesser sentence since Alwan cooperated in the case.

Hammadi received a life sentence. The two were arrested in Warren County in 2009.

Both men had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization, and conspiracy to send Stinger surface-to-air missiles to Iraq. Alwan and Hammadi also pleaded to making false statements when they applied for admission to the United States as refugees.

The terrorist plot was actually a government sting operation. This led the Iraqis' lawyers to claim they were victims of entrapment.

Join WKU Public Radio Wednesday during Morning Edition for recaps of the sentencing handed down Tuesday in Bowling Green's federal court.