Man pleads not guilty in terror group funding case
ST. LOUIS - A Minnesotan says he's not guilty of federal charges that he plotted to send money to a terrorist group in Somalia that the U.S. says has ties to al-Qaida.
Thirty-five-year-old Abdi Mahdi Hussein of Minneapolis entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, where he was indicted last month with St. Louis taxi driver Mohamud Abdi Yusuf and another man.
Hussein remains free on his own recognizance.
The government contends that Yusuf and Hussein sent money through a Minneapolis wire-transfer business where Hussein worked to al-Shabab supporters in Somalia between 2008 and at least July 2009.
Hussein, who is also of Somali descent, is charged with one count of conspiracy to structure monetary transactions. Yusuf also faces that count, as well as providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
