By Joe Anuta
An Indian national illegally living in Flushing was found guilty in federal court last week for providing aid to a foreign terrorist organization.
Patrick Nayyar, 48, agreed to provide weapons and other materials to Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based outfit that is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Between July and September 2009, Nayyar had a series of meetings with a man he believed could funnel materials to Hezbollah. In fact, the middleman was an FBI informant.
Nayyar, along with an alleged co-conspirator named Conrad Stanisclaus Mulholland, provided the informant with a handgun, a box of ammunition and a truck believing that the materials would be passed along to Hezbollah, according to Bharara.
In addition, Nayyar agreed to sell the informant guns, ammunition, vehicles, bulletproof vests and night vision goggles, according to Bharara.
Nayyar was arrested in Queens on separate charges before his indictment was handed up in Manhattan federal court. Investigators then slapped him with five counts related to the support he provided Hezbollah before he was convicted by a jury March 28.
Nayyar faces up to 75 years in prison and is set to be sentenced Sept. 25 by Judge Robert Sweet.
Mulholland, 45, is also not a citizen of the United States and fled the country before charges were filed, according to Bharara.
The case was handled by the FBI and the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, a coalition of various law enforcement agencies in the area.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
