A former Florida college professor who pleaded guilty to aiding a Palestinian terrorist group was not immune from a subpoena forcing him to testify in an unrelated probe of alleged Muslim charities suspected of being terror front organizations, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.Sami Al-Arian, 50, had argued the terms of his plea agreement with the government exempted him from testifying before a grand jury investigating Islamic groups in Virginia.
A federal trial judge disagreed and found Al-Arian guilty of contempt.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied Al-Arian's appeal of the contempt order, ruling that federal prosecutors did not violate the plea agreement by forcing him to testify in the Virginia case.
Al-Arian pleaded guilty in 2006 to one count of providing services to members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He will be deported after completing his prison sentence, expected to occur sometime this spring.
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Here's a link to the AP's version of events.
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