Morris Co. Man Who Scouted Landmarks For Terrorist Attacks Sentenced

MORRISTOWN, NJ — A Morristown man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for scouting U.S. landmarks for terror attacks and receiving military-style training from the Lebanon-based Shia terrorist group, Hezbollah.

Alexei Saab, 46, also known as Ali Hassan Saab and Alex Saab, was sentenced for his role with Hezbollah as well as marriage fraud and making false statements, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Judge Paul G. Gardephe, who also presided over the two-week trial, handed down the sentence.

Following his prison sentence, Saab, who was convicted in May 2022, will be required to serve three years of supervised release.

Saab joined Hezbollah in 1996 and received his first Hezbollah military training in 1999, according to court documents. Hezbollah taught Saab how to use firearms such as an AK-47, an M16 rifle, a pistol and grenades.

Saab joined Hizballah's external operations unit, the IJO, in 2000, and received extensive training in weapons and military tactics, including how to construct and detonate bombs and other explosive devices.

Before his arrest in 2019, the FBI determined through interviews that Saab could draw multiple improvised explosive devices that would work if built.

According to authorities, Saab obtained US citizenship in 2008 after falsely claiming he had never been a member of a terrorist organization. Saab worked as a software engineer and remained an IJO operative while in the United States.

According to court documents, he continued to receive military training in Lebanon while carrying out operations such as photographing and exposing structural flaws at dozens of New York City locations, such as the Statue of Liberty, Rockefeller Center and local airports.

Saab's reporting to the IJO included the materials used to construct a specific target, how close one could get to a target, and site weaknesses or "soft spots" that the IJO could exploit if it attacked a target in the future.

He conducted similar intelligence gathering in a number of major American cities, including Boston and Washington, D.C. According to officials, Saab admitted that his surveillance was intended to better position the IJO to attack the United States in the future.

According to court documents, Saab received $20,000 in 2012 for entering into a fraudulent marriage to assist a woman in applying for US citizenship. Under penalty of perjury, Saab lied to authorities about the marriage not being for the purpose of facilitating her immigration.

"Alexei Saab’s actions as a Hizballah operative, both domestically and internationally, were deeply disturbing. Saab trained extensively on military tactics and weapons use, he specialized in how to construct and detonate explosives, and he surveilled major American landmarks to identify potential attack sites," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. "But his apprehension by law enforcement before an attack could be carried out is a testament to the importance of our counterterrorism efforts."