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Canoga Park resident facing charges of being agent for Saddam
By Tony Castro, L.A. Daily News Staff Writer
CANOGA PARK - The upscale hillside neighborhood above Topanga Canyon Boulevard hardly evokes a scene of America's War on Terror. But near the top in the 22100 block of Parthenia Street, a drama right out of a spy story - replete with intrigue, paranoia and urgency - is playing out.
At the heart of the tale is a dark, gray-haired, mustachioed man who on a recent day wore a running suit and baseball cap just before dusk to enjoy the day's last breathtaking view of the San Fernando Valley - a view that could soon be taken from him.
William Shaoul Benjamin, 65, an Iraqi-born naturalized U.S. citizen, goes on trial today on federal charges that he failed to "register, as required by law, as an agent for executed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence service, whose leaders are believed by U.S. officials to have played central roles in the reported links between Saddam and al-Qaida."
If convicted of four criminal counts related to his alleged spying case - including lying on his application for U.S. citizenship in 2001 - Benjamin faces 20 years in prison and possible deportation to his homeland.
"He is the least likeliest person you would expect to find as an enemy of the United States," said his lawyer, James Edward Blatt. "He isn't a Muslim. He's a Christian, and he loves this country, and he loves George Bush. It makes no sense."
Still, it is a case that has turned Benjamin's life topsy-turvy and stunned neighbors.
"Obviously I'm concerned about anything involving our national security, but I find it hard to believe that anyone who lives on this street would be involved with anything on that high a level," said Clem Boylan, who lives a few houses from Benjamin.
This is, after all, a neighborhood identified in the 2000 U.S. Census as tract No. 1132.32, where the household income is $125,125 and the median income $66,731. Where almost 90 percent of the homes are owner-occupied and where almost two-thirds of the residents are white and most of the others are Latino.
So an alleged Iraqi spy in their midst?
"That's pretty scary, to tell you the truth," said Joseph Delgado, who, along with his wife, lives just a few doors away from Benjamin's house. "I've lived here for 10 years. Our house belonged to my wife's family. In the summer, we have block parties at different people's homes to get to know one another.
"On this street, I thought we knew everyone, but this is something you would never suspect."
But then, the spying game in the United States has changed since the Cold War, according to a report from the Defense Department titled "Espionage Against the United States by American Citizens 1947-2001."
"We're seeing a more diverse group," said Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C.
"It's not clear exactly what the reason for that is, but it does make it a little bit harder to combat, because there is no longer one single profile that fits most spies. That means you have to consider a lot more potential candidates."
But Benjamin's attorney defends his client, saying he was a member of the Iraqi national soccer team in the 1960s and in the 1970s helped found Iraq's Assyrian National Party in opposition to the al-Baath regime later led by Saddam.
In 1979, his lawyer said, Benjamin's political activities led to an unsuccessful assassination attempt on his life, and he was jailed for an extended period after his recovery.
At the time someone tried to kill him, Benjamin had built a lucrative customs business that afforded him and his family of six children an upscale lifestyle, his lawyer said.
"He gave up all he had in Iraq to come to the United States," Blatt said. "He was willing to come here and bring all his family and rebuild his life."
In the wake of the Gulf War, Benjamin immigrated to the U.S. But with limited English skills, he was unable to achieve the same lifestyle he had enjoyed in Iraq and ultimately wound up supported financially by his grown children, Blatt said.
According to Los Angeles County property records, Benjamin's home on Parthenia Street is in the name of Sanharib Benjamin, who purchased the house in 1998 for $259,000.
Blatt said Sanharib Benjamin appears to be Sanharve Benjamin, who is William Shaoul Benjamin's only son.
In 2001, according to the indictment, Benjamin became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Not long after that, he registered as a Republican. In 2004, he cast his first ballot in an American presidential election, voting for Bush at the nearby Nevada Elementary School auditorium.
The 10-page federal indictment appears vague on details and specifics of Benjamin's alleged spying but does say that from July 8, 1993, through Sept. 3, 2001, Benjamin was part of a spying conspiracy against the U.S. involving others who are not named.
"Defendant Benjamin would be given the `symbol' code name `9211' by the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and he and his co-conspirators would use such a code name in their communications," according to the indictment.
It alleges that the Iraqi Intelligence Service - known as the Mukhabarat - directed Benjamin in his spying activities.
"Defendant Benjamin would infiltrate groups and organizations located in the United States that were considered by the Iraqi Intelligence Service to be hostile to the government of Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein," the indictment charges.
"Defendant Benjamin would collect information regarding these groups and organizations, and the individuals in them, and provide this information to co-conspirators who were Iraqi Intelligence Service officers."
The indictment also alleges that Benjamin went to Iraq for training from the Iraqi Intelligence Service and met with Mukhabarat officers in Iraq and Tunisia.
He allegedly was paid $8,500 and two bottles of whiskey.
The government says Benjamin used six aliases during eight years as an Iraqi spy.
Since his indictment, he has been free on $500,000 bail plus house confinement, monitored by an electronic device on his ankle. He is allowed to leave his home for medical or legal appointments, as well as other approved requests, Blatt said.
Benjamin declined to be interviewed for this story. Blatt, who said Benjamin and his family are concerned for their safety, declined to discuss details of the case.
Similarly, government officials have been tight-lipped. Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Heinz, who is prosecuting the case, has not commented from the beginning. A government spokesman said neither he nor Heinz would comment on the eve of a trial.
But Benjamin's case is the latest the U.S. has pursued against alleged spies, particularly after the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01. In November, a federal judge in Illinois sentenced an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen to four years in prison in a spying case.
Sami Khoshaba Latchin, 60, of suburban Chicago was found guilty by a jury of being an unregistered foreign agent, conducting unauthorized business with Iraq, lying to an FBI agent and lying on immigration papers. He still could be denaturalized and eventually deported.
In April, two Detroit-area, Iraqi-born U.S. citizens were indicted and charged with spying for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, according to federal court documents. Those charges were based on Iraqi intelligence documents captured by American forces in Iraq in 2003 and authenticated by former members of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, authorities said.
In July, one of the men, Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, pleaded guilty to spying charges.
Benjamin's lawyer said he and his client are aware of the other Iraq spy cases.
"The government has won all of them," Blatt said. "I know that."
By Tony Castro, L.A. Daily News Staff Writer
CANOGA PARK - The upscale hillside neighborhood above Topanga Canyon Boulevard hardly evokes a scene of America's War on Terror. But near the top in the 22100 block of Parthenia Street, a drama right out of a spy story - replete with intrigue, paranoia and urgency - is playing out.
At the heart of the tale is a dark, gray-haired, mustachioed man who on a recent day wore a running suit and baseball cap just before dusk to enjoy the day's last breathtaking view of the San Fernando Valley - a view that could soon be taken from him.
William Shaoul Benjamin, 65, an Iraqi-born naturalized U.S. citizen, goes on trial today on federal charges that he failed to "register, as required by law, as an agent for executed Iraq leader Saddam Hussein's feared intelligence service, whose leaders are believed by U.S. officials to have played central roles in the reported links between Saddam and al-Qaida."
If convicted of four criminal counts related to his alleged spying case - including lying on his application for U.S. citizenship in 2001 - Benjamin faces 20 years in prison and possible deportation to his homeland.
"He is the least likeliest person you would expect to find as an enemy of the United States," said his lawyer, James Edward Blatt. "He isn't a Muslim. He's a Christian, and he loves this country, and he loves George Bush. It makes no sense."
Still, it is a case that has turned Benjamin's life topsy-turvy and stunned neighbors.
"Obviously I'm concerned about anything involving our national security, but I find it hard to believe that anyone who lives on this street would be involved with anything on that high a level," said Clem Boylan, who lives a few houses from Benjamin.
This is, after all, a neighborhood identified in the 2000 U.S. Census as tract No. 1132.32, where the household income is $125,125 and the median income $66,731. Where almost 90 percent of the homes are owner-occupied and where almost two-thirds of the residents are white and most of the others are Latino.
So an alleged Iraqi spy in their midst?
"That's pretty scary, to tell you the truth," said Joseph Delgado, who, along with his wife, lives just a few doors away from Benjamin's house. "I've lived here for 10 years. Our house belonged to my wife's family. In the summer, we have block parties at different people's homes to get to know one another.
"On this street, I thought we knew everyone, but this is something you would never suspect."
But then, the spying game in the United States has changed since the Cold War, according to a report from the Defense Department titled "Espionage Against the United States by American Citizens 1947-2001."
"We're seeing a more diverse group," said Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, D.C.
"It's not clear exactly what the reason for that is, but it does make it a little bit harder to combat, because there is no longer one single profile that fits most spies. That means you have to consider a lot more potential candidates."
But Benjamin's attorney defends his client, saying he was a member of the Iraqi national soccer team in the 1960s and in the 1970s helped found Iraq's Assyrian National Party in opposition to the al-Baath regime later led by Saddam.
In 1979, his lawyer said, Benjamin's political activities led to an unsuccessful assassination attempt on his life, and he was jailed for an extended period after his recovery.
At the time someone tried to kill him, Benjamin had built a lucrative customs business that afforded him and his family of six children an upscale lifestyle, his lawyer said.
"He gave up all he had in Iraq to come to the United States," Blatt said. "He was willing to come here and bring all his family and rebuild his life."
In the wake of the Gulf War, Benjamin immigrated to the U.S. But with limited English skills, he was unable to achieve the same lifestyle he had enjoyed in Iraq and ultimately wound up supported financially by his grown children, Blatt said.
According to Los Angeles County property records, Benjamin's home on Parthenia Street is in the name of Sanharib Benjamin, who purchased the house in 1998 for $259,000.
Blatt said Sanharib Benjamin appears to be Sanharve Benjamin, who is William Shaoul Benjamin's only son.
In 2001, according to the indictment, Benjamin became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Not long after that, he registered as a Republican. In 2004, he cast his first ballot in an American presidential election, voting for Bush at the nearby Nevada Elementary School auditorium.
The 10-page federal indictment appears vague on details and specifics of Benjamin's alleged spying but does say that from July 8, 1993, through Sept. 3, 2001, Benjamin was part of a spying conspiracy against the U.S. involving others who are not named.
"Defendant Benjamin would be given the `symbol' code name `9211' by the Iraqi Intelligence Service, and he and his co-conspirators would use such a code name in their communications," according to the indictment.
It alleges that the Iraqi Intelligence Service - known as the Mukhabarat - directed Benjamin in his spying activities.
"Defendant Benjamin would infiltrate groups and organizations located in the United States that were considered by the Iraqi Intelligence Service to be hostile to the government of Iraq under the leadership of Saddam Hussein," the indictment charges.
"Defendant Benjamin would collect information regarding these groups and organizations, and the individuals in them, and provide this information to co-conspirators who were Iraqi Intelligence Service officers."
The indictment also alleges that Benjamin went to Iraq for training from the Iraqi Intelligence Service and met with Mukhabarat officers in Iraq and Tunisia.
He allegedly was paid $8,500 and two bottles of whiskey.
The government says Benjamin used six aliases during eight years as an Iraqi spy.
Since his indictment, he has been free on $500,000 bail plus house confinement, monitored by an electronic device on his ankle. He is allowed to leave his home for medical or legal appointments, as well as other approved requests, Blatt said.
Benjamin declined to be interviewed for this story. Blatt, who said Benjamin and his family are concerned for their safety, declined to discuss details of the case.
Similarly, government officials have been tight-lipped. Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Heinz, who is prosecuting the case, has not commented from the beginning. A government spokesman said neither he nor Heinz would comment on the eve of a trial.
But Benjamin's case is the latest the U.S. has pursued against alleged spies, particularly after the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01. In November, a federal judge in Illinois sentenced an Iraqi-born U.S. citizen to four years in prison in a spying case.
Sami Khoshaba Latchin, 60, of suburban Chicago was found guilty by a jury of being an unregistered foreign agent, conducting unauthorized business with Iraq, lying to an FBI agent and lying on immigration papers. He still could be denaturalized and eventually deported.
In April, two Detroit-area, Iraqi-born U.S. citizens were indicted and charged with spying for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, according to federal court documents. Those charges were based on Iraqi intelligence documents captured by American forces in Iraq in 2003 and authenticated by former members of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, authorities said.
In July, one of the men, Ghazi Al-Awadi, 78, pleaded guilty to spying charges.
Benjamin's lawyer said he and his client are aware of the other Iraq spy cases.
"The government has won all of them," Blatt said. "I know that."
WTF?! There were no links between Saddam and al-Qaida. The two mistrusted and hated each other! Who's in charge here?!
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