Under Monday’s sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge John Tunheim, Hamade will be immediately deported after serving his federal prison term in the U.S.

Lebanese National Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Illegally Exporting Drone Parts and Technology

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers and U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald for the District of Minnesota today announced the sentencing of Usama Darwich Hamade, 55, to 42 months in prison, for conspiring to illegally export goods and technology in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Export Administration Regulations, the Arms Export Control Act, and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The sentence was handed down by Chief Judge John R. Tunheim in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minn. 

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, from 2009 through 2011, Hamade conspired with others to export U.S. origin goods and technology including inertial measurement units suitable for use in uncrewed aerial vehicles, or “UAVs,” digital compasses suitable for UAV use, a jet engine, piston engines, and recording binoculars, without obtaining the required export licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State, in violation of IEEPA, the Export Administration Regulations, the Arms Export Control Act, and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. According to evidence presented by the government, the ultimate beneficiary of Hamade’s actions was the designated foreign terrorist organization Hizballah.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Docherty and David MacLaughlin and Trial Attorney David Recker of the National Security Division.

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As noted in prior Creeping Sharia posts, aiding Hizbollah was a family affair for the Hamade’s.

More on the Hezbollah brothers: Feds: Brothers with alleged Hezbollah ties are ‘dangerous’

Prosecutors wrote that Hezbollah has used drones for many years and that the brothers “present a danger to the United States, and to other communities around the world.”

Prosecutors painted Usama Hamade as a “violent, drunken, gun-toting thug” who threatened to kill a government witness and his family by cutting him “to pieces” and once bragged that he cut off his gardener’s arms and bashed his gardener’s skull after an apparent theft.

The witness told authorities that he had regular contact with Usama Hamade from 2009 to 2011, and that he and his wife went to Lebanon with Usama Hamade in 2010. When they arrived in Beirut, the witness said, a group of armed men in darkened limos separated him from his wife and drove them with lights and sirens to a flat that Usama called his Beirut home.

The witness said Usama told him the Hamade brothers were both members of Hezbollah, and both brothers had pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in their homes. Usama Hamade also had firearms around the flat and fired shots into the sky. Usama Hamade also filmed the inside of his apartment and posted the video to Facebook. A Hezbollah flag is visible, as well as an assault rifle propped against the nightstand, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that as he was fighting extradition to the U.S., Usama Hamade said Nasrallah is a spiritual leader and there is nothing nefarious about the photograph. Hamade also said Hezbollah is a political party, not a terrorist organization.

Prosecutors called that “preposterous,” saying one of the drone parts acquired is only useful in military applications. They say Skype calls between Usama Hamade and an undercover agent show Hamade said he would be proud to be placed on the U.S. terror list.

Issam Hamade’s attorney, Bruce Nestor, wrote in his court filings that a Shiite Muslim would have to show public allegiance to Hezbollah or another group to avoid physical harm or retribution.

But prosecutors said Issam Hamade posted pictures of the 9/11 attacks on Facebook and suggested the attacks wouldn’t have happened if the World Trade Center had been built in reverence to Allah.