Sentencing delayed for Iraqis in terror case

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — A federal judge has delayed sentencing until late January for a pair of Iraqi nationals who pleaded guilty to conspiring to send weapons, cash and explosives to al-Qaida in Iraq.

U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell rescheduled for Jan. 29 the sentencing of 30-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan and his co-defendant, 24-year-old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi. Sentencing had originally been planned for Jan. 3 in federal court in Bowling Green.

Alwan pleaded guilty in December 2011. Hammadi bypassed a trial and entered a guilty plea in August.

The two men had faced charges of trying to send a variety of weapons, including rifles, rocket propelled grenades and Stinger missile systems, along with other explosives and cash to the terrorist organization in Iraq.

Alwan’s attorney, Scott Wendelsdorf, requested the delay.