The FBI arrested New Mexico Amalia compound residents on federal firearms and conspiracy charges, according to a statement by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
The arrests on Friday came just two days after Judge Emilio Chavez dismissed child abuse charges against three of the five on a timing technicality.
Prosecutors had missed the deadline for an evidentiary hearing to establish probable cause under New Mexico’s “10-day rule,” as Fox News and other outlets reported.
Earlier this month, police raided the ramshackle desert dwelling in search of three-year-old Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj, who had gone missing from Georgia.
They discovered 11 starving, severely neglected children along with the boy’s remains amid the squalor, as multiple outlets including CNN reported.
The children were reportedly being trained to conduct school shootings.
The adult defendants arrested Friday, all between the ages of 35 and 40, include Haitian national Jany Leveille — who was illegally present in the United States — Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, Hujrah Wahhaj, Subhanah Wahhaj, and Lucas Morton.
Leveille is charged with “being an alien unlawfully in possession of firearms and ammunition in the District of New Mexico from November 2017 through August 2018.”
The Wahhajs and Morton are charged with aiding and abetting Leveille’s offense and conspiring to commit the offense, per the DOJ statement.
The firearms charges arose from a search warrant executed August 3, when the Taos County Sheriff’s Office found at least 11 firearms and a large quantity of ammunition. Leveille stands accused of transporting the firearms in her car across state lines.
If convicted, Leveille faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison followed by deportation.
The remaining four also face a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted on aiding and abetting.
All five face a statutory penalty of five years if convicted on the conspiracy charge, the statement explained.
The group was reportedly arrested in Taos, New Mexico, on Friday afternoon without incident.
They are slated to appear in federal court on Tuesday, September 4, in Albuquerque.
What about child abuse, and murder and teaching children to become terrorists? Any way I am just glad some had the guts to prosecute these vile people for something. Now someone should get rid of that insane judge.
— PJ (@Peggy01895813) September 1, 2018
Islamic extremist compound. Quit sugar coating it abc, you don't work for Willy wonka.
— Derrick Shepard ❌?? (@DerrickShepar17) September 1, 2018
INCREDIBLE NEWS: Remember the radical Islamic terrorists from the New Mexico compound that a judge let off?
The FBI arrested all 5 of them on firearms and conspiracy charges! https://t.co/bkAGgySCWq#SaturdayMorning
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 1, 2018
Michele Blood is a Flemington, New Jersey-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to LifeZette.
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