Mohammed Wali Zazi
Quick Facts
Biography
Mohammed Wali Zazi (born 1955 in Afghanistan), currently a naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Arapahoe County, Colorado, is a suspect in matters related to terrorism.
Connection to 2009 terror plot
Zazi is the father of convicted al-Qaeda terrorist Najibullah Zazi, who intended to detonate explosives on the New York City Subway during rush hour as one of three coordinated suicide bombings. His son was arrested in September 2009, and pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, and providing material to a terrorist organization. Before his arrest, he worked as a taxi driver.
As he was believed to have secretly helped his son commit possible acts of terrorism, Zazi was charged in 2009 on the counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, as well as conspiring to dispose of his son's bomb-making materials and chemicals. Based on a request of the Denver Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), an arrest warrant for his arrest in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1001(a)(2) was issued on September 19, 2009. He was released on a $50,000 bail on February 18, 2009. He pleaded not guilty in February 2010.
He was convicted in July 2011 of destroying evidence and lying to investigators. He was sentenced in February 2012 to four and a half years in prison.
Immigration fraud
In October 2011, he pleaded guilty to instructing his lawyer to falsify immigration documents for his nephew.