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U.S. Army translator re-sentenced for unauthorized possession of classified documents, using false identity

NEW YORK — A U.S. Army contract translator was re-sentenced Wednesday for illegally possessing national defense documents, and using a false identity to procure his U.S. citizenship and gain access to classified military materials. This is the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI and the New York City Police Department, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Defense.

On May 19, 2008, the defendant was originally sentenced to 121 months in prison. That sentence was later reversed on appeal due to an error in the calculation of the advisory U.S. sentencing guidelines range. The case was then remanded for resentencing, and the judge in the case then imposed an above-guidelines sentence.

On Feb. 14, 2007, the defendant, whose true identity is still unknown and who goes by various names, including Abdulhakeem Nour, Abu Hakim, Noureddine Malki, Almaliki Nour, and Almalik Nour Eddin, pleaded guilty to the unauthorized possession of classified documents. On Dec. 20, 2005, the defendant pleaded guilty to the false identity charge.

In August 2003, the defendant used a false identity to apply for and gain a position as an Arabic translator for L-3 Titan Corporation, a company which provides translation services in Iraq for U.S. military personnel. He then used the same false identity to fraudulently obtain Secret and then Top Secret security clearances.

Subsequently, during assignments in Iraq, the defendant took classified documents from the U.S. Army without authorization. While assigned to an intelligence group in the 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army at Al Taqqadam Air Base, he downloaded a classified electronic document and took hard copies of several other classified documents. The documents detailed the 82nd Airborne's mission in Iraq in regard to insurgent activity, such as coordinates of insurgent locations, upon which the U.S. Army was preparing to fire in January 2004, and U.S. Army plans for protecting Sunni Iraqis traveling on their pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in late January 2004.

During a later deployment to a U.S. Army base near Najaf, Iraq, the defendant obtained a photograph of a classified battle map identifying U.S. troop routes used in August 2004 during the battle of Najaf, where the U.S. and Iraqi security forces sustained serious casualties. In September 2005, the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force recovered these classified documents during a search of the defendant's Brooklyn apartment. One of the documents remains classified and therefore is not described here. In connection with the re-sentencing, the court found that the defendant had intentionally taken the classified materials that were later found in his possession.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.