Tag: Daood Gilani

When the Chicago terror case against Daood Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley and Tawawwur Hussein Rana first came to light, the most striking fact was that Headley had two prior heroin convictions and bargained his way out of heavy time for both by cooperating for the DEA. After 13 years of on and off again cooperation, he wasn't a newbie at the cooperation game, and he was well known to his handlers. Yet the DEA dropped the ball on Headley big time. And no heads have rolled.

In 1988 Gilani/Headley was busted at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, when a customs officer asked to check his belongings. Finding 2 kilos of heroin inside, he called for a D.E.A. agent stationed nearby and who arrived at the scene? Derek Maltz. Maltz, who has since been promoted to head of DEA Special Operations, is 48 now. (He still crows after every big bust, but he's been focused more on Mexico and South America lately, it seems. Here's a You Tube video of him a few months ago, pleased as punch with his new perps. Or read this description of one of his many talks.

He's been with the agency 25 years (his father also spent his career in drug enforcement). He would have been 25 when he was stationed in Frakfurt and made Headley's bust. Within two days (probably on the flight home) Headley agreed to cooperate. Two days later, he was back home at his apartment in Philly, all wired up for his first snare. [More...]

For the past year, I've been writing about the sweetheart deal back in 1998 the DEA and DOJ gave David Headley, aka Daood Gilani, who this year pleaded guilty in federal court in Chicago to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks. (McClatchy has as well.) It's good to see more of the mainstream media now following this aspect of the story. Three weeks ago Pro Publica and the Washington Post obtained some new details, mostly about an ex-wife of Headley's who had reported in 2005 after their break-up that Headley had terrorist leanings.

The New York Times today breaks more new ground , having obtained the transcript of his Nov. 16, 2001 hearing for early termination of supervised release. My favorite paragraph is the one describing what happened at the hearing, which took place one month after the first of three of Headley's ex-girlfriends/wives reported she suspected he had terrorist leanings: [More...]

Pro Publica has a lengthy investigative article on admitted Mumbai bombing complicitor and former DEA informant Daood Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley.

The focal point of the article is that Headley's ex-wife told the FBI he had become an extremist involved with Lashkar-i-Taiba back in 2005 when she reported a domestic violence incident between them. The FBI either did nothing or glossed over it. [More...]

David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani, pleaded guilty today in a Chicago federal court to all 12 counts of the Indictment against him. He admitted conducting surveillance for the 2008 Mumbai attacks and plotting to attack a Danish newspaper, and providing material assistance to a terror organization, Lashkar e Tayyiba. Six Americans were killed in the Mumbai attacks.

Headley's benefit? The death penalty is off the table. He now faces up to life imprisonment, but could get less. According to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald's press release, Headley won't be sentenced until his cooperation is complete, and the Government expects to seek a reduction from the guidelines for his cooperation.

Headley pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bomb public places in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in India; six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in India; conspiracy to murder and maim persons in Denmark; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark; and conspiracy to provide material support to Lashkar.

[More...]

Daood Gilani, aka David Coleman Headley, charged in Chicago with assisting in the Mumbai attacks and in plotting an attack on the Danish newspaper that published cartoons critical of the Prophet Mohammed, will plead guilty on Thursday.

He's been cooperating. The plea details aren't available. Will he get less than a life sentence when 8 Americans were killed in the Mumbai attacks? Stay tuned.

Our prior coverage of Headley, including his days as a DEA informant and his potential double agent status, is assembled here.

Denmark has information on David Coleman Headley, aka Daood Gilani, the American born man with dual Pakistani-U.S. citizenship. accused in Chicago of plotting both the Mumbai attacks in 2008 and the planned attack on a Danish newspaper.

Denmark won't provide information to a country that is seeking to execute the defendant. The charges against Headley include death-penalty eligible offenses, although the U.S. has not filed a notice of its intent to seek the death penalty. [More...]

Since Headley is cooperating with the U.S., it's unlikely the U.S. will seek the death penalty against him.

They ought to announce that now, so that they can get whatever evidence Denmark has to offer.

A federal magistrate judge in Chicago yesterday denied bail for Tahawwur Hussain Rana, co-defendant of David Headley, aka Daood Gilani. Rana is charged with providing material support to terrorists via a planned attack on a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Court found Rana had immigration expertise and a net worth of $1.6 million and was a flight risk. The Government alleged in a brief (available on PACER) that recorded conversations showed Rana knew of the Mumbai attacks before they happened and expressed his approval of them. Rana is not alleged to have participated in the Mumbai attacks. His lawyer argued the recorded conversations were in large part unintelligible and Rana is not a flight risk. [More...]

It turns out David Headley, aka Daood Gilani, the former DEA cooperator now indicted for terrorism in Chicago and suspected of playing some role in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is the half-brother of the Public Relations Officer to Pakistan's Prime Minister. In a statement, Danyel Gilani says:

Seeking to de-emphasize the connection, the PRO said, “Being much younger to Daood, I have heard that he studied at the Hasan Abdal Cadet College for sometime and in the mid-1970s shifted to America to live with his mother. Since then, the family here only had occasional links with him. In fact, because of his involvement with issues related to drugs my father wanted the rest of the family to stay away from his influence.”

Speculation keeps mounting that the feds here used Headley to infiltrate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and that at some point he either went rogue and joined LeT, or became a double agent. [More...]

The Chicago terror charges against David Headley, formerly Daood Gilani, and Tahawwur Hussain Rana are interesting for a number of reasons. They are particularly big news in India, where FISA surveillance information has authorities connecting them to the Nov. 2008 Mumbai attacks and to high level people in Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (Lashker e Taiba) and Harkat-ul Jihad Islamid.

What's getting some, but not enough news, is Headley's 1997 bust in New York for conspiracy to import heroin into the U.S. (The New York Times briefly refers to it here.)He was charged under his original name, Daood Saleem Gilani, along with a codefendant James Leslie Lewis. (Lewis was sentenced to 120 months, later reduced to 100 months.)

After Headley's arrest, he was ordered detained pending trial. But, he began cooperating with the DEA. The U.S. Attorney's office submitted some sealed documents (obviously cooperation letters) and got him out on bond. He was sentenced to only 15 months and when he got out from Ft. Dix, the DEA sent him to Pakistan to make some cases. [More...]