Friend of terror attack suspect sentenced on weapons charge

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A man who befriended the only person charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was sentenced Wednesday to 15 months in prison on an unrelated federal weapons charge.

Mujahid Abdulqaadir Menepta, 51, admitted he had a Chinese military-style semiautomatic rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and a semiautomatic pistol in his Norman home. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 19 to being a felon in possession of firearms. He was convicted of aggravated robbery in Colorado in 1971.

U.S. District Judge David L. Russell specified that the sentence should be followed by a 3-year period of supervised release.

Menepta was given an opportunity to make a comment in court, but declined.

"This office takes firearms offenses very seriously," said U.S. Attorney Robert McCampbell. "Mr. Menepta will have to pay the price for violating the prohibition on felons possessing firearms."

Menepta's attorney, Susan Otto, said the sentence fell under the normal range for this type of crime.

She said he worked in a job where he provided care to people with mental and psychological problems who were transitioning from mental hospitals to life in the community.

Federal authorities found the weapons, along with more than 600 rounds of ammunition, in Menepta's home when they arrested him Oct. 11 on a material witness warrant out of New York. He was flown to New York as part of the investigation into the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Menepta later was released from the material witness warrant, but was held on the weapons charge.

He caught the attention of federal authorities when he defended Zacarias Moussaoui to the media, saying Moussaoui was a "scapegoat" who was portrayed unfairly and that he would be shocked if Moussaoui were involved in the terrorist attacks.

The two were friends when Moussaoui lived in Norman, where Moussaoui took lessons at Airman Flight School. Moussaoui dropped out of the school abruptly and resurfaced at a flight school in Minnesota.