EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge says he wants a couple of weeks to consider a sentence for an Oregon man convicted of helping to smuggle $150,000 out of the country for an Islamic charity.
U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan said he will schedule a date sometime in December to sentence Pete Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty, on charges of tax fraud and conspiracy.
Prosecutors want Seda to go to prison for the maximum eight years, arguing he intended the money to support Muslim fighters battling the Russian army in Chechnya.
Seda told the judge he has rejected terrorism all his life and violence is not compatible with his Islamic beliefs.
