Brother of Avowed Suicide Bomber Pleads

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A Palestinian immigrant accused of lying to the FBI to conceal his brother's written vow to become a suicide bomber in Israel pleaded guilty on the eve of trial.

Mohamed Subeh admitted deceiving federal agents at Rochester's airport in 2003 when he denied seeing a farewell letter in which his brother indicated he was traveling home to the West Bank to join the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group that has claimed credit for suicide bombings in Israel.

Subeh, a 43-year-old grocery store owner, pleaded guilty late Thursday to a felony count of concealing a material fact from the FBI. At sentencing on April 4, the naturalized citizen and father of five could get up to six months in prison or be placed on probation.

Indicted on three counts of making false statements to the FBI, he had faced up to five years in prison.

His 21-year-old brother, Ismail Dorgham, lived in Rochester for a year before abruptly quitting his job at the store and flying back to the Middle East. Prosecutors say Dorgham carried a letter in his wallet _ and left a copy for Subeh _ saying he wanted to avenge the shooting death of their brother, Moussa, by Israeli police in May 2002 and become a suicide bomber.

When Subeh came upon the letter, he flushed it down a toilet and rushed to the airport in a vain attempt to stop Dorgham from leaving. His efforts to have his brother taken off the flight led to Subeh being questioned. Asked if Dorgham was going to Israel to be a suicide bomber, Subeh said he couldn't answer "one way or the other but that Dorgham's mental state worried him," FBI Agent Joseph Testani said.

Dorgham had already been questioned by FBI agents who photocopied the letter in his wallet but didn't get it translated from Arabic until six days later. In it, Dorgham wrote that "God willing I will get revenge for my brother Moussa and for all the martyrs who have sacrificed their blood."

Confronted with the letter, Subeh "initially denied knowing about it," said his lawyer, John Parrinello. "The whole problem was Mohamed's anxiety to try to prevent his brother from leaving without getting him in trouble. It ended up getting Mohamed in trouble."

Dorgham was detained for three weeks on his arrival in Jordan. He has since married and lives with his wife and their 2-year-old son in Bethlehem, Parrinello said.