Columbia grocer from Iraq prepares for prison

Thursday, August 16, 2012

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Columbia grocer convicted of violating federal sanctions against Iraq by sending money overseas is preparing to start a three-year prison sentence later this month.

Former University of Missouri nuclear scientist Shakir Hamoodi owns the World Harvest market. He pleaded guilty in 2009 to sending about $200,000 to family, friends and charities in his native Iraq from 1991 to 2003.

A federal judge sentenced Hamoodi in May, but he was allowed to remain free until after the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.

Supporters want Hamoodi’s federal sentence commuted but acknowledge the odds are long. They’re holding a potluck supper Aug. 25 in Columbia to show support for the market, which will remain open and be operated by one of Hamoodi’s sons.

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kentheco 9 months ago

Wasn' that nice of the judge? I guess now everybody can request to start their sentences after they celebrate the next holiday. Talk about bending over for a terrorist!

Sequoia 9 months ago

Yeah, that unhinged violent extremist was "sending about $200,000 to FAMILY, FRIENDS AND CHARITIES" in his native country during economic sanctions they had nothing to do with.

What a terrorist! I AM SO OUTRAGED.

Talk about misusing the word "terrorist"! Talk about fake manufactured outrage!

LuckNLove 9 months ago

Come on Sequoia, we all know that “family, friends, and charities” is just code word for “Terrorist Organizations”. lmbo

spelchek 9 months ago

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_charities_accused_of_ties_to_terror

spelchek 9 months ago

You're the only one using all caps in "manufactured outrage".

JCLifer 9 months ago

Traitor.

spelchek 9 months ago

nytimes.com/2007/09/18/us/nationalspecial3/18holyland.html

spelchek 9 months ago

Here's a good article from the Freedom Socialist Party about this story in Columbus, MO. --

socialism.com/drupal-6.8/?q=node/1977

LuckNLove 9 months ago

My math and knowledge of the law may be a little iffy here but his home was raided five years ago that is 2007 and if the U.S. sanctions against Iraq were lifted in 2003 why did they raid his house?

spelchek 9 months ago

"He’s been quite vocal about his naïveté since his May 16 sentencing, but according to the plea agreement he entered on Dec. 22, 2009, Hamoodi “was aware that the Iraqi sanctions existed, and that they prohibited the sending of funds into Iraq for any purpose.”

Sequoia 9 months ago

Why don't you find out something about the case first, before you start using words like "terrorist"?

helphamoodi.org/

Let me do the work for you:

"After five years of investigation, the government concluded that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Dr. Hamoodi, except a technical violation of the US Sanctions on Iraq. The extensive investigation concluded that there was no evidence that any penny Dr. Hamoodi sent to his family or the families of other Iraqis in Columbia went to any wrong hands. Every single penny was accounted for, yet a technical violation had occurred."

If a white Christian person was sending aid money to friends and family in Sudan, in violation of Sudan law, I don't think you'd call that person a "terrorist." But because this man is Iraqi, you feel justified in throwing around the word "terrorist" quite loosely.

Shame on you.

xhepera 9 months ago

Agreed, Sequoia. These peoples' insane bigotry is nauseating. All these fine, false Christians bearing false witness. Anyone who has ever met this man and his family would realize that calling him a terrorist is shameful and wrong. But these bigots have no shame.

There's a reason that many of the people of Columbia rallied to this man's defense. And it's not because they're "liberal socialists" or whatever the epithet du jour is among the willfully ignorant these days.

I'll continue to travel to Columbia regularly to patronize his store. Quite a few businesses here in Jeff could learn a thing or three about polite, courteous, gracious customer service from these folks frankly.

Bucky 9 months ago

Why hammer Christians? None of the postings that I could see mentioned their faith as being "christian" or his faith as being anything else. They called him a terrorist, which may be demonstrably wrong, but that is not the same.

spelchek 9 months ago

"All these fine, false Christians bearing false witness." -- Says the person bearing false witness.

asb 9 months ago

In the very first post of this thread.

Sequoia 9 months ago

Spelchek also posted a link about charities accused of ties to terror, implying that the charities Hamoodi gave to were or could be linked to a terror group.

And his "work" doesn't justifiy that implication, because technically violating a law does not make a person a terrorist. If that's true, a bunch of terrorists sped past me on the highway this morning. You might have been one of them! Perhaps you should be investigated, Grace.

Perhaps I'll call you a terrorist until you prove you're not a terrorist, you terrorist. Even if you supply evidence that you're NOT a terrorist, I'll still call you a terrorist because you have a funny name and I FEEL like you're probably a terrorist no matter what. What kind of name is Graceful, anyway, you terrorist-named terrorist?

Oh no! The way I've tortured this joke makes ME a terrorist!

You're right. Shame on me.

Sequoia 9 months ago

Well, in this case, the alleged terrorist is not running for president. A public person wanting to be president comes with a few more demands than simply being a normal person not wanting to be called a terrorist.

Sequoia 9 months ago

Obama's school records? I don't live in birther land, sorry. If I spent my time chasing around stupid email rumors, I'd never get anything done. Obama's been president for four years, so I'm honestly not that curious about his school records. You consume a media narrative that Obama is a fraud and not a legitimate president, because you can't deal with the fact that the majority of this country agrees with his views, so you have to use email rumors to suggest he's a fraud. Just 'cause you eat mud doesn't mean I have to, as well. I'm fairly happy with Obama so far. School records? Who cares?

Likewise, I'm not going crazy over tax returns. I have enough information to see clearly that Romney/Ryan want to dramatically cut government services in order to provide huge tax cuts to people like Romney. I know full well Romney paid exactly as little taxes as his six-figure accountants and lawyers and financial-industry lobbyists have made possible for him. Under Ryan's plan Romney would pay less than 1 percent in taxes. If that doesn't enrage you, then you're beyond me.

The entire conservative movement is devoted to putting more money in the pockets of men like Romney and, in the words of Grover Norquist, "reducing government down to the size that it can be drowned in the bathtub." They want to remove any regulatory barrier to full corporate exploitation of the American "market," which is actually the lives of you and me. Romney's a shark. Sharks just want to eat more and more.

PatsyDecline 9 months ago

I suggest going for a walk and breathing some fresh air. While admittedly sometimes amusing, your "enragement" isn't healthy at all. It will eat you up....just like the sharks....LOL

Sequoia 9 months ago

Thanks Patsy. You're certainly right. We all have to rise above it, or else we're pulled down in it. But if it weren't for coffee stirred with a tablespoon of venomous rage, I'd never get out of bed. At such times I often turn to the poets. This one is from Tim Seibles:

There is a woman named Qi Do. Two eyes are not enough to hold the shimmer in her hair. Some days I catch my heart trying to memorize her face.

A man, the sheriff’s friend, tried to open her blouse. I merely turned his hand and told him she was not from the saloon.

He said he would peel me “like a slant-eyed banana.”

When I killed the Prince, I became sick in my stomach, though the Royal House is yet famous for torture.

When I killed the first assassin sent after me, it was like slapping a mosquito poised to suck from my wrist.

Laotzu has written, "One who recognizes all men as members of his own body is a sound man to guard them."

I am a priest. I believe in living toward this. But often my anger occurs to me

as its own creature with its own teeth.

To those who would sleep through the wounds they inflict on others, I offer pain to help them awaken, sometimes death to keep them calm.

There is no question injustice can ask to which violence is not a fair answer.

The man who wanted to peel me- I helped him fit half his blade into his thigh, his right hand still on the hilt.

The look on his face then: as if he had seen a sparrow swallowing a wolf.

LuckNLove 9 months ago

By posting information that is somewhat relevant but not really relevant could make people believe he did donate to a terrorist charity since no information was provided about which charities he did contribute too.

spelchek 9 months ago

Check and mate.

RobHunterJohnson 9 months ago

Where does your money go Grace? Rob

eileen10 9 months ago

I've been reading everything I can find on this man and he doesn't sound like a terrorist to me. He sounds like a hard working man who wanted to help others.He did break the law and I feel the sentence was harsh but he'll do his time and be back with his family who he worries about. Not all people from Iraq want to harm us. And I feel he is a good man I don't disagree with how anyone else feels because it's up to each individual how they see this.

PatsyDecline 9 months ago

I've shopped Mr. Hamoodi's grocery many times. He is an absolutely gracious man and treats his patrons like gold.

However, his actions did break federal law. I'm sorry this is happening to him and his family, but with their love, their faith, and the support of the local community, they will survive this and move on.

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