EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — The co-founder of an Islamic charity once based in Oregon faces sentencing.
Pirouz Sedaghaty (Say-dah-GAH-tee), also known as Pete Seda (SAY-dah), was due in U.S. District Court in Eugene on Tuesday to be sentenced on convictions he helped smuggle $150,000 out of the country in 2000 as part of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation’s efforts to support Islamic fighters in Chechnya.
Court papers show prosecutors want to sentence him to eight years in prison, justifying the maximum sentence for tax fraud and conspiracy with evidence the money was used to promote terrorism. They also want unpaid taxes of $81,000.
Prosecutors plan to call a Russian investigator to testify by video link about evidence other officials of Al-Haramain used the money from Oregon to send weapons to mujahideen in Chechnya.
