Alleged supporter of terrorist group indicted

PHILADELPHIA - A dual citizen of the United States and Slovakia was charged on Tuesday with conspiring to provide material support to Hizballah, which has been designated by the U.S. Department of State to be a terrorist organization. This case was jointly investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.

Dani Nemr Tarraf is among several defendants charged in the conspiracy. According to the criminal complaint, Tarraf worked to obtain items for the benefit of Hizballah, including Stinger missiles, Colt M-4 fully automatic carbines, Glock pistols, sniper-detection technology, night-vision and thermal-imaging equipment, wireless networking equipment, lensatic compasses and two-way radios.

If convicted of all charges, Tarraf faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison. He was originally charged with four others in November 2009.

The case was investigated by the following agencies: FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the New Jersey State Police; Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S. Secret Service; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement; U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and Explosives; Federal Air Marshals; Pennsylvania State Police; and the Philadelphia Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nancy Beam Winter and Vineet Gauri, and National Security Division Counterterrorism Section Trial Attorney Jolie F. Zimmerman.