ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Ali Asad Chandia was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for conspiring to and providing material support to the terrorist organization Lashkar- e-Taiba, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg of the Eastern District of Virginia announced today. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release at the completion of his incarceration.

On June 6, 2006, a jury unanimously found Chandia, 29, of College Park, Md., guilty of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and providing material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.

The evidence at trial established that during a three-month trip to Pakistan in 2001-2002, Chandia met and allied himself with Mohammed Ajmal Khan, a British citizen of Pakistani descent. Khan, who is currently serving a nine-year sentence in the United Kingdom for directing a terrorist organization, served as a military procurement official for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Chandia assisted Khan in procuring military-purpose equipment for Lashkar-e-Taiba for use in its violent jihad against India. He gave safe harbor to Khan during Khan’s visits to the United States in 2002 and 2003, and allowed Khan to use his home computer to pursue the acquisition of equipment such as unmanned aerial vehicles, night-vision equipment and wireless video cameras. Khan also used the defendant’s computer to confirm the purchase of $17,000 of Kevlar anti-ballistic material that Khan had purchased for Lashkar-e-Taiba.

In a search of Chandia’s home conducted on May 8, 2003, the FBI found audiotapes and other materials manifesting his commitment to violent jihad. On the front seat of Chandia’s car, the FBI also found a CD-ROM containing videos glorifying the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden and the 19 hijackers who carried out the attacks. They also found a CD-ROM containing still photographs of persons jumping to their deaths from the World Trade Center towers.

“Terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba rely on a network of individuals to carry out their deadly operations,” U.S. Attorney Rosenberg stated today. “Ali Asad Chandia was a member of that network for Lashkar-e-Taiba, and he will now spend a very long period of time in prison for providing material support in furtherance of its violent agenda.”

The Washington, D.C. and Baltimore field offices of the FBI investigated the case, led by Special Agent Christopher Mamula. The Anti-Terrorist Branch of New Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom also provided substantial assistance in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David H. Laufman and Department of Justice Trial Attorney John T. Gibbs.