Homeland Security

Defendant Pleads Guilty to Providing Support to al Qaeda

(Justice Department news release on Yahya Goba) (280)
The Justice Department announced March 25 that Yahya Goba, one of six
defendants indicted in the Buffalo cell case, pleaded guilty to
providing material support to al Qaeda.
Goba, of Lakawanna, New York, and five others were indicted last
October, a Justice Department news release said.
He was the third member of the alleged terrorist sleeper cell to plead
guilty in federal court. He acknowledged that he attended an al Qaeda
training camp in Afghanistan and allowed a recruiter from the
terrorist network to stay at his home through September 11, 2001.
Following is the text of the Justice Department news release:
(begin text)
DEFENDANT YAHYA GOBA PLEADS GUILTY TO PROVIDING MATERIAL SUPPORT TO AL
QAEDA
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney
General Michael Chertoff of the Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney
Michael Battle of the Western District of New York announced today
that Yahya Goba, one of the six defendants indicted in the Buffalo
cell case, has pleaded guilty to providing material support to al
Qaeda.
Goba, of Lackawanna, N.Y., and five other defendants were charged in a
two-count indictment in the Western District of New York last October
with providing material support or resources to al Qaeda. Goba pleaded
guilty before U.S. District Judge William Skretny at federal court in
Buffalo, N.Y., this morning to the second count of the indictment,
which charges that from Spring 2001 through August 2001, Goba and the
other defendants knowingly and unlawfully provided and attempted to
provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist
organization, namely al Qaeda.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)