A former professor at the University of South Florida says farewell to the United States.
Reuters reports that Sami Al-Arian, who was acquitted on terrorism charges last year, “has agreed to be deported rather than face a new trial, according to published reports on Saturday.”
Al-Arian and three others were arrested in 2003 and charged with providing money and support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad - a terrorist organization according to the United States, reports Reuters.
Last year Al-Arian was found not guilty on eight charges, but the jury failed to reach a verdict on nine others after a lengthy trial. Since then, he’s been in jail while federal prosecutors decided whether or not to hold a new trial on the remaining charges. The Reuters story goes on to say, “The St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Tribune both reported Saturday that Al-Arian had agreed to be deported after he pleads guilty to one charge,” but that “any plea agreement would have to be approved by a federal judge. The U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa refused to comment on the report” to either newspaper, writes Reuters.
Al-Arian had been a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa since 1986.
