SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) ? A Muslim convert from Texas who once e-mailed a radical Muslim cleric saying he wanted "to do my part for jihad" was convicted on Monday of attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Barry Walter Bujol, 30, faces 15 years in prison on a terrorism charge as well as five additional years for aggravated identity theft, of which he was also convicted on Monday.
Bujol's conviction follows a more than two-year investigation during which the man from the east Texas town of Hempstead repeatedly pledged his commitment to "violent jihad," according to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson.
Bujol was convicted by U.S. District Judge David Hittner following a four-day trial. Bujol acted as his own lawyer and failed to introduce any evidence or question any witnesses.
Magidson said federal investigators were on to Bujol from the moment he sent an e-mail to the now-dead radical Islamic cleric Anwar Al-Awlaki, asking for advice on raising money for the "mujahedeen" without attracting police attention, and commenting on his duty as a Muslim to "make violent jihad."
At the time, Bujol was a student at Prairie View A&M University. But all Bujol got was police attention.
Magidson said the FBI Joint Counter Terrorism Task Force assigned a confidential informant to act as a representative of Al-Awlaki, who urged Bujol to participate in numerous "training exercises" to prove that he was truly ready to commit violent crimes against the United States.
Bujol replied, "God willing" in Arabic. At one point, officials say Bujol suggested to the confidential informant that he would be willing to attack certain human targets, including at least one in the Houston area.
Last May, using a code word the informant had given Bujol, they met at the port of Houston and, using the stolen identity of a port employee, the informant told Bujol that he was going to place him as a stowaway on a ship bound for Algeria, where he would undergo terrorism training, and then proceed to Yemen to join Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
Magidson said the informant gave Bujol several items he was supposed to take to a contact in Yemen, including computer SIM cards, global positioning devices, and 2,000 Euros in cash.
Immediately upon his stepping on board the ship, FBI agents moved in and arrested Bujol.
Evidence presented at trial indicated that when agents searched Bujol's home after his arrest, they found what appeared to be Bujol's suicide message to his wife on a laptop computer. It said that he would "likely not see her until the afterlife" and included photographs of Osama bin Laden.
Magidson said that at no time was the public in danger, pointing out that federal agents thwarted two previous attempts by Bujol to leave the country.
"The prosecution of this case and its result should serve as a deterrent and sends a clear message to anyone contemplating the illegal support of terrorist organizations," Magidson said following the verdict.
Bujol has been in federal custody since his arrest.
(Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Peter Bohan)
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