Ohio Imam Gets Two Months in Prison - Judge says Not a Terrorism Issue

The leader of Ohio's largest mosque was sentenced Monday to two months in federal prison and four months of house arrest for lying about his connections to terrorist groups when he applied for U.S. citizenship. Palestinian-born Fawaz Damra, imam of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, could have received up to five years in prison on the charge of obtaining U.S. citizenship in 1994 by providing false information. Prosecutors had requested the maximum sentence, but U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin said he did not view the citizenship application offense as a terrorism issue the way prosecutors had tried to suggest. Sentencing guidelines for first-time offenders called for probation to six months in prison. [more ]