News Summary

To hear Ali Kareem Aladimi tell it, he's an innocent victim of post-9/11 xenophobia.

The former Beavercreek man says he's a hard-working immigrant who became a naturalized U.S. citizen, married an American girl and built a successful wholesale business in West Chester Twp.

"In most respects, (Aladimi's) background is similar to the millions of immigrants who have been coming to this country since the mid-19th century

seeking a better life," his attorney wrote in a court pleading.

Federal prosecutors paint a different picture. They say Aladimi, who turns 46 on Sept. 26, conspired from 1993-2002 to illegally distribute stolen baby formula and huge quantities of pseudoephedrine, the key ingredient in methamphetamine. When his Beavercreek home was searched in 1999, authorities found nearly $800,000 in cash, shrink-wrapped in packages of Lady Clairol hair-coloring kits and "ready for shipment to Yemen," Aladimi's country of origin.

The feds also say they had evidence that Aladimi provided financial support for the terrorist group Hamas and had connections with terrorist-linked Al-Taqwa Bank in Yemen. And they questioned his attempts to bring 25 of his countrymen into the U.S., purportedly as glassmakers.

The investigation came to a halt in May 2004 when Aladimi, on the advice of his lawyer, pleaded guilty to three federal crimes in a 63-count indictment.

But four months later, he began trying to withdraw his guilty pleas and take the case to trial.

In a surprise move a year ago, U.S. District Judge Michael H. Watson of Cincinnati reversed himself and set aside Aladimi's guilty pleas. Now Aladimi is scheduled to go to trial starting Nov. 19 on all 63 original charges of conspiracy to distribute dangerous drugs, money laundering, bank fraud and dealing in stolen goods.