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Rasmea Odeh Sentenced to 18 months in federal prison

1,791 views · Published 25 March 2015 · 4:26 · Indexed 17 October 2026

Channel: Middle East Eye · 2015 · News & Politics

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Palestinian-American community leader Rasmea Odeh on Thursday was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison over immigration fraud, a lenient jail term considering the prosecution’s call for her to serve five to seven years.

“It is a victory,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a national spokesman for the Rasmea Defense Committee.

Despite not avoiding jail time altogether and having her US citizenship revoked, Odeh will be allowed to stay out of prison while she appeals the decision.

The fact that Odeh will be able to remain among friends, family and supporters throughout the appeals process “will embolden people to continue to organise” for her cause, Abudayyeh told Middle East Eye.

During the sentencing hearing, the prosecution repeatedly told US district judge Gershwin Drain that given Odeh’s involvement in “terrorist” activities in the 1960s, she should receive an extra harsh punishment for lying on government forms.

Assistant US attorney Jonathan Tukel said that the failure to make an example of her would encourage others to lie about past criminal offenses in order to obtain US citizenship.

“The more serious the [criminal] offense [undisclosed on official forms], the more serious the punishment,” Tukel argued.

Odeh was convicted in November of unlawful procurement of naturalisation, with the government claiming she lied on official forms in 2004.

Asked whether she had been convicted of a crime or served jail time, Odeh answered “No”. She had in fact been jailed by Israel in 1969 for alleged involvement in two bombings in Jerusalem.

(Video by Dave Leins)

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