Uzbek national charged with supporting terrorism
Published 5:03 pm Thursday, February 9, 2012
By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor
A 22-year-old man who police said illegally was living in Pelham when he was arrested and charged with threatening to kill President Barack Obama has been charged with another count of providing material support to terrorism.
Uzbek national Ulugbek Kodirov was arrested in 2011 and charged with four counts of threatening to kill Obama, one count of receiving and possessing an unregistered grenade, one count of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm and unlawfully possessing a fully automatic weapon.
According to law enforcement, Kodirov was living in a room at the Oak Mountain Lodge extended-stay hotel off U.S. 31 when he was arrested.
On Jan. 9, Kodirov was charged with one count of providing material support to terrorism, according to U.S. District Court documents.
The new charge accuses Kodirov of “knowingly and willingly (providing) material support, that is the acquiring of persons, weapons and explosives, knowing or intending that they were to be used in preparation for, or in carrying out … the killing or attempt to killing the president of the United States, Barack H. Obama.”
Kodirov is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charge at 1 p.m. on Feb. 10 in the Hugo L. Black U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham. Kodirov’s attorney, Lance Bell, said Kodirov will plead guilty to the charges during a 1:30 p.m. hearing the same day in front of U.S. District Court Judge Abdul Kallon.