Trio pleads guilty to conspiracy to provide material support to Pakistani

Up to three Pakistani citizens pleaded guilty Monday in the District of Columbia to "conspiracy to provide material support to the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), often referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, a designated foreign terrorist organization," the Department of Justice announced. At a hearing in Washington, D.C., Irfan Ul Haq, 37; Qasim Ali, 32; and Zahid Yousaf, 43, each pleaded guilty to "one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization." The Justice indicated that at sentencing, which is scheduled in December, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a fine of up to USD 250,000. As part of their plea agreements, the defendants have agreed to "a stipulated order of removal to Pakistan upon the completion of their criminal sentences." According to the Justice, Ul Haq, Ali, and Yousaf admitted that between January and March of this year, "they conspired to provide material support to the TTP in the form of false documentation and identification, knowing that the TTP engages in terrorist activity and terrorism." According to court documents, Ul Haq, Ali, and Yousaf "conducted a human smuggling operation in Quito, Ecuador, that attempted to smuggle an individual they believed to be a member of the TTP from Pakistan into the United States." The TTP was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department in September 2010. The documents added that "over the course of the ensuing negotiations, the defendants were made aware that the person to be smuggled was a member of the TTP who was blacklisted in Pakistan." "The defendants agreed to move this person from Pakistan into the United States, despite his purported affiliation with the TTP," and "accepted payment from the confidential sources for the smuggling operation and procured a false Pakistani passport for the purported TTP member," the documents said.