FBI Informant's Role Emerges in Court Hearing
Ex-Gang Member Who Converted to Islam Helped in Case of 2 Terrorism Suspects
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Sunday, December 2, 2007; Page A14
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- William Chrisman had three wives and nine children to support, he had a felony criminal record, and he struggled with panic attacks. Nevertheless, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he was determined to assist the federal government.
He became an informant for the FBI, and his work helped authorities charge two men -- both Muslim converts, like Chrisman -- who were suspected of supporting terrorism.
One of them, Derrick Shareef, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to plotting to set off grenades in an Illinois shopping mall. The other, Hassan Abujihaad, a former Navy sailor, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he gave terrorists secret information about the location of Navy ships and ways to attack them.
The role of Chrisman, 34, a former gang member, was revealed last week during a two-day hearing to determine what evidence can be admitted when Abujihaad's trial begins in February.
Chrisman left gang life more than a decade ago and converted to Islam while in prison for attempted armed robbery and possession of a stolen car. Now a sheep farmer in Illinois, Chrisman said that he had wanted to join the military since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but that his criminal record prevented him from enlisting. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he walked into an FBI office and offered his services.
Since then, he has helped out on several cases.
In the fall of 2006, Chrisman said, authorities asked him to contact Shareef, who was working at a video store in the Chicago area.
Shareef had nowhere to live and accepted an offer to move in with Chrisman the same day they met. Chrisman says the arrangement was not so unusual, since Muslims are supposed to offer shelter for three days.
"It was a burden on my wives," Chrisman said in court. "Some of his behaviors were not good around my children."
Shareef discussed violent jihad, or holy war, and mentioned Abujihaad, describing him as a father figure whom he met in 2003 at a mosque in Phoenix and lived with for about seven months in 2003 and 2004, Chrisman said.
Abujihaad had been under federal investigation since 2004.
Chrisman, who secretly tape-recorded his conversations, said Shareef told him Abujihaad had passed along information about Navy ships.
