Grand jury indis 5 on federal charges in the New Mexico case

A federal grand jury in New Mexico on Tuesday laid charges on federal guns and conspiracy charges against five people arrested after authorities reportedly found 11 hungry children and another boy's body in a complex last month.

Federal prosecutors have stated in a criminal complaint that the five defendants had a "common plan to prepare for violent attacks on governmental, military, educational and financial institutions" as part of one of the accused's religious prophecies. .

Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40 years old; Jany Leveille, 35 years old; Hujrah Wahhaj, 37 years old; Subhanah Wahhaj, 35 years old; and 40-year-old Judge Lucas Morton are charged by a federal indictment leader with plotting to provide firearms and ammunition to an unlawful person in the United States, the US Attorney's Office said District of New Mexico.

The indictment also charges Leveille – whose authorities said he hails from Haiti and resides illegally in the United States – in possession of firearms and ammunition.

All five were arrested in early August after police raided the compound where they lived in Amalia, Taos County, located in the north of the state, and found weapons. , ammunition and 11 children in dirty conditions and the body of Siraj Wahhaj 18 year old son, accused of kidnapping the boy's mother in Georgia.

Local prosecutors alleged that toddler Abdul-Ghani Wahhaj died in December 2017 as part of a religious ritual because his father thought his son was possessed by demons and that anti-epileptic drugs or medical care they were refused.

Federal prosecutors state in court documents that the five defendants have set up a training camp and a shooting range to prepare for the attacks and that Leveille and Siraj Wahhaj have sought to train people, including children. "

Allegations that at least one child was in training to shoot schools was mentioned in the past and a local judge, denying that some of the five people were detained without bail, said that prosecutors had alleged but Did not provide evidence to the satisfaction of the judge as to what it was.

All five are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday when they are expected to be charged. Public defenders will probably be named.

Another local judge dropped the charges against the five people at the end of August because local prosecutors had failed to meet the deadline and the charges relating to the boy's death had been dropped so that the prosecutor can present them to a grand jury. But on August 31, all five were arrested for federal charges.

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque then released the indictments on Tuesday.

Von Chelet Leveille said his sister and the rest of the group were misunderstood and he disputed allegations that children would learn to shoot schools, the Associated Press reported.

He said that the two older children had asked to learn how to shoot and that the use of firearms by the family was legal and innocent. He also said that the group had gone to the desert because they no longer wanted to live as American Muslims in a society mostly populated by non-Muslims.

The 11 children found in the property were arrested by the state.