Excerpt:
The Dar Al-Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va. hosted a fundraiser Saturday to finance legal appeals of Sabri Benkahla, who is currently serving a 10-year federal prison sentence for obstruction of justice, perjury before a grand jury, and making false official statements to the FBI in the course of an investigation into the Virginia Jihad terror cell.
Benkahla was granted statutory immunity for his testimony before a grand jury. Under the terms of his immunity agreement, he submitted to interviews with the FBI and testified in August and November 2004 in front of a federal grand jury in Alexandria. He was asked about his participation in jihadist training camps or combat in Afghanistan or Pakistan during the summer of 1999, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia said following his criminal conviction.
Benkahla "was convicted of making materially false statements both in his grand jury appearances in 2004, as well as to the FBI in 2004. These false statements included his denial of his involvement with an overseas jihad training camp in 1999, as well as his asserted lack of knowledge about individuals with whom he was in contact," the U.S. Attorney's Office added.