A man convicted of aiding terrorists and lying to the FBI has been sentenced to 24 years in a federal prison and an additional ten years of supervised release.

Hamid Hayat, 25, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced on September 10, 2007, by a federal district court in Sacramento.  Hayat, from Lodi, California, was arrested in 2005 by Joint Terrorism Task Force agents upon his return from Pakistan, where he was attending al Qaeda training camps.  In April 2006, Hayat was convicted on one count of providing material support or resources to terrorists and three counts of making false statements to the FBI.

According to evidence presented at the trial, Hayat pledged his belief in jihad and his intention to attend a jihadi training camp in several recorded conversations.  In interviews with federal officials, Hayat admitted attending jihadi training camps in Pakistan in 2000 and again between March 2003 and June 2004.  He also disclosed that he returned to the U.S. prepared to wage violent jihad upon received orders.  Prosecutors allege that Hayat intended to attack hospitals, banks, grocery stores and government buildings.  Hayat’s lawyer denied these allegations, in addition to denying Hayat’s attendance at a terrorist training camp. 

Hayat’s father, Umer Hayat, 49, a naturalized American citizen, was arrested with Hamid and charged with financing his son’s trip to Pakistan and lying to federal agents.  After his case ended with a hung jury, Umer agreed to plead guilty in May 2006 to unrelated customs charges in exchange for a sentence of time served.  In total, he served 330 days of pretrial detention in jail and four months of home confinement.

The case against the Hayats reportedly grew out of a federal investigation into the 2,500-member Pakistani community in Lodi, which began shortly after September 11 terror attacks.  The purpose of the original investigation was to determine whether Lodi business owners were financing terrorist groups abroad. 

Hamid Hayat’s new attorney filed a motion to vacate the conviction, claiming that Hayat had  inadequate counsel during his trial.  The lawyer also plans to appeal the sentence.