Mike Hawash

After Hawash was formally charged, McGeady, acting as spokesman for Hawash's family, said "People who know Mike believe the idea that Mike would have fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan is completely absurd and that he ultimately will be cleared" and “We hope that once a jury hears what happened, they’ll realize that a mistake was made.”

Hawash's attorney, Stephen Houze said “It’s our intention to shed the light of day on what has been a Dark Cloud of secrecy,” stating that he would use his pre-trial discovery powers to compel the United States to declassify any evidence it plans to use in the case. “This is America,” he added. “We have an open court system.”

"The men began calling themselves muhajid and referring to Saoub as their emir. They adopted the name Katibat al Mawt — The Squad of Death."

Over a year later, after continuing to live and work near Portland, Hawash was arrested outside his office at Intel, setting off a heated debate about material witness arrest and detention and the USA PATRIOT Act, and galvanizing a movement to free Hawash. Hawash eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid the Taliban in exchange for a reduced, seven-year sentence. He was released from prison in early 2009.

Hawash was released from prison in 2009, after serving most of his seven-year sentence.

Maher Mofeid "Mike" Hawash is a Palestinian-born American engineer who was convicted and sentenced to a seven-year prison sentence in 2003 for conspiring to aid the Taliban in fighting against U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan. Six weeks after 9/11, Hawash secretly traveled to China with a group of Portland-area Muslims, dubbed the Portland Seven, with the intent of entering Afghanistan to aid the Taliban. Hawash and his fellow conspirators were unable to reach Afghanistan due to visa problems, according to federal authorities,

In March 2003, Hawash was also arrested as a material witness, and after a five-week detention was charged. In September 2003 the group, now dubbed "The Portland Seven", "were all named in the 15-count superseding indictment that included charges of conspiracy to levy war against the United States, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda, conspiracy to contribute services to al Qaeda and the Taliban, conspiracy to possess and discharge firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence, possessing firearms in furtherance of crimes of violence and money laundering."

On March 20, 2003, federal authorities arrested Hawash in the parking lot of Intel. He is reported to have said, “I’ve been expecting you.” Hawash was initially arrested and detained as a material witness and was held for over five weeks without charge. During this period, Hawash declined to testify before a grand jury, invoking his Fifth Amendment right. He was eventually charged with traveling to China to aid the Taliban.

In August 2003, Hawash surprised his supporters by pleading guilty to one charge in exchange for a reduced sentence.

In October 2002, the six members of the group other than Hawash were indicted and four were arrested. Ahmed Bilal and Al Saoub remained fugitives.

Masjed as-Saber was a major donor to the Global Relief Foundation, a Muslim charity "shut down in late 2001 over allegations of fund-raising and money-laundering for terrorist groups," and a charity to which Hawash had contributed $10,000.

Around 2000, Hawash began to drift toward a more fundamentalist Islam, in part as a reaction to the death of his father.

Hawash emigrated to the United States in 1984 and attended the University of Texas at Arlington where he obtained degrees in Computer Science and Engineering. He was employed by Compaq as an engineer from 1989 through 1992, when he was hired by Intel and moved to Portland, Oregon. Hawash worked at Intel’s Israel facility from 1994 to 1996 and continued working for Intel until 2001. He was co-author of the 1997 book DirectX, RDX, RSX, and MMX Technology. In 1995, he married a Christian woman from rural Oregon, and together they had two children. Hawash's wife had a child from a previous marriage.

Mike Hawash was born in Nablus in the West Bank on December 12, 1964. A Jordanian citizen, in 1990 Hawash became a naturalized U.S. citizen.