Sterling Heights Man Sentenced For acting as Agent for Former Iraqi Government

A Sterling Heights man was sentenced today to 46 months’ imprisonment for providing military information to the Iraqi Intelligence Service under the government of Saddam Hussein, United States Attorney Terrence Berg announced. Berg was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, FBI Special Agent in Charge.

Najib Shemami, 61, of Sterling Heights, was sentenced by Judge Nancy G. Edmunds. Shemami had pleaded guilty in January to an indictment charging him with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

According to documents filed in court, Shemami traveled to Iraq and met with officers of the Iraqi Intelligence Service in September, November and December 2002. Shemami reported information relating to the activities of Iraqi expatriates in the United States who were opposed to Saddam Hussein, potential candidates for political office in Iraq, and U.S. and Turkish military activities he had observed in Turkey before the U.S. entry into Iraq in 2003.

United States Attorney Berg stated, "Reporting to a foreign intelligence agency on the activities of Iraqis living in the United States clearly puts those individuals and their families at risk. Providing military information on the eve of war risks grave harm to our troops and national security. We must always be vigilant in protecting our country from foreign intelligence agencies.”

The court rejected the defendant’s argument that he had acted under duress, and found that his reporting to the Iraqi Intelligence Service was instead his “cost of doing business” as a smuggler of goods and money into Iraq during a time when trade with Iraq was prohibited by U.S. law.

The case was investigated by Special Agents of the FBI.

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