Former Weatherford Resident Pleas Guilty To Visa Fraud After Allegedly Attending Al-Qaeda Training Camp

A former Weatherford resident has pleaded guilty to visa fraud and making a false statement to the FBI. 

Naif Abdulaziz M. Alfallaj, 35, a Saudi Arabian national, allegedly lied to officers to hide his application and attendance at an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan in late 2000, the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Oklahoma reported.

On Feb. 8, Alfallaj was taken into custody after the FBI found 15 of Alfallaj's fingerprints on an application form for al Farooq, one of al-Qaeda's key training sites in Afghanistan.

The document was recovered by the U.S. military from an al-Qaeda safe house in Afghanistan.

Alfallaj first entered the the U.S. in late 2011 on a non-immigrant visa based on his wife's status as a foreign student.

According to the complaint against him, Alfallaj answered several questions on his visa application falsely. 

Alfallaj has been in federal custody since Feb. 5. 

“Protecting our national security is the highest priority of the Department of Justice,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.  “I commend the outstanding efforts of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force for its collaborative and focused work in this investigation.”

Alfallaj faces up to 10 years in prison on the visa fraud offense and eight years for making a false statement involving international terrorism. He could be fined up to $250,000 on each count.