Al-Arian To Appeal Sentence

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY amccartney@tampatrib.com

Published: May 11, 2006

TAMPA - An attorney for Sami Al-Arian has filed notice of intention to appeal the former professor's sentencing this month on a charge he helped a terrorist organization.

Peter Erlinder, an Al-Arian acquaintance and professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minn., filed the notice Wednesday with the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Erlinder said he could not discuss the appeal. He said he has not been able to speak with Al-Arian since his sentencing this month to 11 months in federal prison.

Al-Arian, if he receives credit for time served and good behavior, is expected to serve about 10 months before being deported.

The former University of South Florida professor was sentenced May 1 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide help to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is designated a terrorist group by the United States.

Erlinder, who co-founded the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom in 1997 with Al-Arian, said Wednesday that there were a variety of issues that could be appealed but declined to elaborate.

After the sentencing, Al-Arian supporters blasted Judge James Moody for calling Al-Arian a "master manipulator" who helped make widows and orphans, not someone who raised money to help them.

As part of Al-Arian's guilty plea, he agreed not to appeal unless Moody's sentence exceeded the guidelines or violated the constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment or excessive bail and fines.

Erlinder was among those who spoke after the sentencing, offering a legal opinion of the proceedings.

He said judges are bound to render sentences based only on facts found by a jury, and a jury deadlocked or found Al-Arian not guilty of numerous terrorism-related charges.

Erlinder's comments May 1 seemed to indicate he did not feel Moody overstepped sentencing guidelines, although the lawyer said he thought a statement by the judge was based on facts rejected by the jury.

If Moody had imposed a longer sentence, Erlinder said, it would have been illegal.

After offering his legal opinion, Erlinder gave a personal one, saying Moody's comments showed "why jury trials are necessary."