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Man prosecutors link to terror attacks sentenced on unrelated charge

By Terry Frieden
CNN

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- A man whose name appeared on a map in the car of one of the Dulles airport hijackers was sentenced Friday on charges unrelated to the September 11 attacks.

Mohamed Abdi, an American of Somalian descent, drew four months in jail and three years supervised probation for a guilty plea to having defrauded his landlord with a forged check.

Prosecutors and the federal judge in the case continued to express concern Abdi might have ties to the terrorists, some of whom hijacked an airliner from Dulles and flew it into the Pentagon on September 11.

Soon after the attacks, Abdi, who worked for a company providing security at the airport, tried to get rid of five uniforms used by security patrols at Dulles.

Prosecutors told the judge Abdi failed FBI-administered lie detector tests. Investigators said his name and his phone number were written on a Washington-area road map found in the rental car used by one of the dead hijackers.

But in the end, authorities conceded they were unable to tie Abdi to any terrorist or plots.

"Is he the unluckiest man alive, or is there more to it? I wish today we could answer that," said Steven Mellin, one of the government prosecutors.

Defense attorney Joseph Bowman portrayed his client as a possible victim of mistaken identity, saying the name Mohamed Abdi is very common in Somalia, and said at least three men of that name have turned up in the United States.

That drew a sharp reply from the prosecutor, who noted the phone number was that of the man in court.

As for the discarded uniforms, Abdi's lawyer said his client was a generous person who was just giving clothes away. Bowman displayed a Salvation Army receipt to show Abdi had helped the needy in the past.

Abdi has served most of the four-month jail term since his arrest, and on January 23 will be released under restrictions of supervised probation the next three years.

In laying down the terms of the sentencing Friday, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis ordered Abdi to clear all travel through the court, banned contact with anyone outside the United States except his mother and two children in Somalia, and added "you must refrain from any contact with members of al Qaeda, although I understand you say you do not know any."