5 Years in Prison for "Concealing Material Support to Hamas"

The defendant had also posted (in 2019), "I'm gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I'm going to shoot everybody" and other such statements.

From a Justice Department statement yesterday (all redactions in original)

A Somerset County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to time served—64 months—for concealing his attempts to provide material support to Hamas …. Jonathan Xie, 25, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty ….

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Xie knowingly concealed and disguised the nature, location, source, ownership and control of his attempt to provide material support and resources to Harakat alMuqawamah al-Islamiyya and the Islamic Resistance Movement, an organization that is commonly referred to as Hamas. Xie admitted that he knew Hamas was a designated foreign terrorist organization and has engaged in terrorist activities. He said he attempted to conceal his attempted support believing it would be used to commit or assist in the commission of a violent act.

In December 2018, Xie sent $100 via Moneygram to an individual in Gaza who Xie believed to be a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades—a faction of Hamas that has conducted attacks, to include suicide bombings against civilian targets inside Israel. At approximately the same time that Xie sent the money, he posted on his Instagram account "Just donated $100 to Hamas. Pretty sure it was illegal but I don't give a damn."

In April 2019, Xie appeared in an Instagram Live video wearing a black ski mask and stated that he was against Zionism and the neo-liberal establishment. When asked by another participant in the video if he would go to Gaza and join Hamas, Xie stated "yes, If I could find a way." Later in the video, Xie displayed a Hamas flag and retrieved a handgun. He then stated "I'm gonna go to the [expletive] pro-Israel march and I'm going to shoot everybody."

In subsequent Instagram posts, Xie stated, "I want to shoot the pro-israel demonstrators … you can get a gun and shoot your way through or use a vehicle and ram people … all you need is a gun or vehicle to go on a rampage … I do not care if security forces come after me, they will have to put a bullet in my head to stop me."

In April 2019, Xie sent a link to a website for the Al-Qassam Brigades to an FBI employee who was acting online in an undercover capacity. Xie described the website as a "Hamas" website and stated he had previously sent a donation to the group. Xie then sent screenshots of the website to the undercover employee and demonstrated how to use a new feature on the website that allows donations to be sent via Bitcoin. On April 18, 2019, when the undercover employee asked whether Bitcoin was anonymous, Xie responded: "yah… i think thats why hamas is using it now because money transfer is not that anonymous." …

The criminal complaint against Xie (which has more detailed information about the allegations) was filed in May 2019; the plea agreement was signed in June 2020; the docket doesn't directly explain why there was the delay between the plea and sentencing, but this November 2022 order notes that Xie was planning to rely on "certain expert psychological and neurological reports."

Comments

[Frank Drackman]

So they let this fuck out? A number of the missiles fired at Israel today came from Terror-Anne, tell me again why a Hydrogen Bomb is not the answer? I know we won’t do it, because we’re big pussies, but why not Israel? (I’m hoping they’re just waiting for October 7)

Oh wait, he got "in addition to the prison term, Judge Shipp sentenced Xie to 20 years of supervise release, including six months of home detention with location monitoring for the first six months."
I also heard he had to go pick up the Garbage (get that reference and I'll buy you a Virtual drink)

Frank

[John F. Carr]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18445293/united-states-v-xie/

Indeed it has been five years since he was first charged.

[Krychek_2]

No matter how guilty he may be, nobody should sit in jail for five years waiting for trial. Whatever was responsible for that needs to be fixed.

[Frank Drackman]

I'd love to see the shitbag and his defense lawyers "Fixed"

[Drewski]

He pled guilty in 2020, after some delay from a combination of COVID postponements and subbing in his own attorney after getting a public defender. He's been waiting for sentencing, not trial. It appears that much of this was on his end, seeking evidence of mitigating factors for sentencing (such as psychiatric diagnoses) and bringing in more lawyers.

[Armchair]

I tend to agree, but 4 years between the plea deal and sentencing....is too much.

[Drewski]

I agree it wouldn't happen in a perfect world, but it's also not outrageous. Court delays are a real problem but here I think the end result was fine and nobody was really harmed by it.

[Armchair]

Here's my issue. In a perfect world this wouldn't happen. And to be honest, even in an imperfect world, this shouldn't happen. And in this particular case, it may be the end result was fine, and no one was harmed by it. It may be fine. Maybe not.

But what I fear is people take this case example (4 years between the plea deal and sentencing), and extend that to it "being OK" because "court delays happen" in other cases, where it might "not be" OK....but accepted. And that's problem that needs to be addressed pronto.

[Krychek_2]

Innocent people are occasionally charged; it does happen. And if a guilty man can sit in jail for five years waiting for trial, so can an innocent one. Sure, in this case there was no real injustice but that doesn’t mean the next case will be the same.

[gormadoc]

He wasn't waiting for a trial, just sentencing.

[Armchair]

It's a bit of an odd situation, because as the facts are stated, there wasn't really going to be a trial.

The defendant here did sign a plea deal in 2020, where he pled guilty. It is odd that the sentencing for the plea deal took 4 years. Very odd. I'll agree, that should be fixed.

I have to wonder if the defendant in this case just decided to "wait it out" a while rather than bring it up.. Not that it absolves the legal system of its responsibilities.

[Jerry B.]

How about, if you support foreign terrorists, you get deported to their countries and given an unloaded firearm.

[Larry Fine]

The appropriate response to this kind of behavior is clear.

Step 1) Deport this chucklefuck to Iran. Or Gaza.
Step 2) Bomb wherever you deported him to.

We need to be done messing around with these terrorists.