Hatred at Home: al-Qaida on Trial in the American Midwest

18. Guilty

 18 Guilty The federal district Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria has seen its share of big national security cases over the years, starting more than a century ago with the 1866 indictment of Jefferson Davis on a charge of treason. Spies Arthur Walker, Aldrich Ames, and Robert Hanssen are among those who have been prosecuted in Eastern District courtrooms. The judge overseeing Faris’s plea and sentencing, Leonie Brinkema, was also no stranger to the national security spotlight. Three months before Faris appeared before her, she had ordered the government to allow Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called twentieth September 11 hijacker, to question Ramzi Binalshibh, the attacks coordinator, by videotape. Brinkema started her legal career in 1976 as an attorney with the bulldog public corruption unit in the Justice Department known as the Public Integrity Unit, then served as a federal prosecutor and later as a trial attorney in the criminal division of the Office of International Affairs. President Clinton appointed her to the bench in 1993.1 Brinkema opened the May 1 plea hearing by asking Faris about his command of English, and then slowly walked him through the questions typical of such appearances. Was he on any medication? Was he under the influence of any drugs or alcohol? Was he feeling all right? Faris, behaving calmly, indicated he was fine, though his brief responses left the impression of someone less than happy about his circumstances. Brinkema then sought assurances that he understood he was giving up his right to a grand jury and that he wasn’t being unduly pressured to make this court appearance and enter this plea. Again Faris—with the help of Sinclair—indicated he understood the circumstances and acknowledged his choice in being present. Brinkema phrased her questions carefully: as a judge she regularly posed inquiries that sometimes required a “yes” and  hatred at home sometimes a “no” to ensure defendants were truly aware of what they were saying and not just uttering rote responses.2 Brinkema moved on to the punishment Faris might face when he was sentenced later that year. She went over the terms of the deal and the options before her. “That would mean that the Court could—doesn’t mean that I will—but it could add the sentences together so that, in fact, your exposure on Count 1 is up to five years, your exposure on Count 2 is up to 15 years, so at least theoretically, the Court could sentence you to 20 years of imprisonment. Do you understand that?” Brinkema said. “I do,” Faris said.3 Brinkema pressed the point by raising the issue of where Faris might end up once he was sentenced. “I think Mr. Faris needs to be aware of, you know, the worst things that can happen to him with a guilty plea,” Brinkema said. Sinclair explained that he’d had several previous clients go to Ashland Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, a medium-security facility. (On its website, however, the Bureau of Prisons classifies Ashland as low security.) “All right,” Brinkema said. “Mr. Faris, do you understand that?” “I do,” Faris said.4 Brinkema reviewed what Faris’s obligations to the government would be once he pleaded guilty. Did he understand he had to cooperate with all state and federal authorities if they needed information about criminal or terrorist activities? He did. Did he understand he had to testify truthfully at any grand juries, trials, or military commissions? He did. Did he understand that he was assigning the government any profits he might make from publishing a book about his experiences? “I do,” Faris said, with no mention of his get-rich dreams from writing such a book.5 Brinkema moved on to the business of the day, reviewing the elements of the offenses Faris had been charged with: the trips abroad, the orders of the sleeping bags, the meetings with bin Laden, the introduction to bin Laden’s “right foot,” the extension of the tickets to Yemen, the research into ultralight planes, the plan to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, the sending of coded messages. Faris acknowledged them all. “Do you make any claim whatsoever that you’re innocent of the conspiracy charge in Count 1 of the information?” Brinkema asked him. Guilty  “No,” Faris said. “How then do you plead to that charge?” “Guilty.” “Do you make any claim whatsoever that you’re...