Lodi father, son accused in terror probe again ask for bail

Two Lodi men jailed on charges of lying to FBI agents about a terrorism investigation are once again asking that a federal judge grant them bail.

Defense attorneys filed the court documents Monday night -- the same day two Lodi men were deported to Pakistan and a third agreed to deportation. In the six-page motions, the attorneys argued that Umer and Hamid Hayat should be granted bail because they are not charged with terrorism and pose no flight risk.

The father and son have been jailed for more than two months after being arrested in an ongoing terror investigation. A total of five Lodi men were arrested in June, but the other three only faced administrative immigration violations.

Defense attorneys Johnny Griffin III and Wazhma Mojaddidi pointed out in their court filings that, though the other three men were accused of having ties to the Taliban and of making plans to recruit terrorists in Lodi, they were never charged.

"It is disingenuous for the government to argue that (the Hayats) must remain in custody while others with seemingly direct ties to Osama bin Laden are set free," the attorneys wrote, asking for a hearing in U.S. Eastern District Court next Monday.

In immigration court proceedings earlier this month, the FBI agent leading the investigation showed a diagram allegedly linking former Lodi imams Mohammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed to bin Laden.

The men, along with Adil Khan's 19-year-old son, Mohammed Hassan Adil, were detained but never charged criminally. The Khans left for Pakistan on Monday, and Ahmed is expected to leave in two to three weeks, according to his attorney.

Now, only the Hayats face charges.

Umer Hayat, 47, has lived in the United States since 1976 and has been an ice cream truck driver in Lodi for 15 years. He, his wife of 25 years and their four children are all U.S. citizens, according to defense attorneys.

Hamid Hayat, 22, was born in Stockton and has lived in the area except for a family trip in 2003 to Pakistan. He stayed there for about two years and got married, then returned to the U.S. on May 30.

Two days later, he went to work picking cherries, and he plans to file immigration papers so his wife may move to the U.S.

Additionally, the attorneys wrote in their motions, the FBI took the Hayats' passports, which would make it much harder for them to travel.

The father and son, along with Umer Hayat's brother-in-law, own property in Lodi. They would be willing to use the property and duplex, valued at $240,000, to secure bond, according to the court documents.

Based on evidence provided to the defense, the Hayats have been under investigation since August 2002. Griffin and Mojaddidi pointed out that, "notwithstanding this lengthy and intrusive investigation, the government has found no evidence to charge (them) with terrorist activity."

A trial had been set for Aug. 23, but a judge postponed it to at least October, citing the large amount of evidence being collected from federal agencies.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.