Ralph Deleon

Ralph Kenneth Deleon (born 1989) is a Filipino, and legal permanent resident of the United States, who in 2015 was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder of members of the United States military and government, and providing material support for terrorists. Deleon is serving a 25-year sentence.[1]

Ralph Deleon
Born
Ralph Kenneth Deleon

1989 (age 31–32)
Laguna, Philippines
CitizenshipPhilippines
Alma materOntario High School
California State University, San Bernardino
Conviction(s)Conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists
Conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping or maiming overseas
Conspiracy to murder "officers and employees" of the United States
Criminal penalty300 months

Early life

Deleon was born in Laguna, a province in the Philippines, and raised Catholic.[2] In 2003, Deleon moved to the United States, and had resided in Ontario, California.[3] In the United States, his father worked as an administrator at a care home.[4] As a teenager he attended Ontario High School where he played football and was in the homecoming court.[5] In 2010, Deleon converted to Islam;[6] he began to attend a mosque in Pomona.[7] Later he changed his Facebook profile to use an alias "Rafiq Abdul Raheem".[8] He had previously attended California State University, San Bernardino and was studying business administration, but withdrew from the university in 2012.[3]

Terrorism involvement

Deleon listened to many hours of teachings of Anwar al-Awlaki.[9] As early as May 2011, Deleon began to associate with other individuals on Facebook who were interested in mujahideen in Afghanistan.[10] In July 2012, Deleon and two others were persuaded to join the Taliban, and later Al Qaeda, and began to train by playing paintball and firing AK-47s.[11] Around this time Deleon visited his mother, who was living in Chicago; later an informant said this was Deleon's opportunity to say farewell to her.[12] In addition, Deleon attempted to recruit to join his plot four other people, whom he called "potentials", but who did not join him.[9] Deleon purchased airline tickets for three people for travel overseas.[11] To pay for the trip, Deleon had quit college and sold his vehicle.[13]

In November 2012, three people, including Deleon, were arrested while driving to Mexico, where they were to begin their flights to Afghanistan,[14] where they had planned to conduct jihad, and become shaheed.[6] In November 2012, three people, including Deleon, were charged in the United States District Court in Riverside.[5] Another person connected to the plot was detained in Afghanistan;[6][11] he was held as an enemy combatant before being sent to the United States to face prosecution.[15] Multiple agencies were involved in the investigation which led to the arrest, including Riverside County Sheriff's Office, Riverside Police Department, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Beaumont Police Department, Ontario Police Department, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[1] Prosecutors later named the group the "Inland Empire Cell".[9]

While in prison, an individual from the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles visited Deleon to assess his well-being while in prison.[4] At the time, Deleon was in solitary confinement.[16] Lawyers for Deleon and the other men arrested with him said that after the Boston Marathon bombing, their clients faced additional challenges due to their similarities to the Tsarnaev brothers, and the widespread negative perceptions the general public holds against them.[17] Prior to the trial, two individuals arrested with Deleon pleaded guilty to charges against them;[18] they went on to cooperate with the prosecutors, and both received a lighter sentence than Deleon.[19]

In December 2012, Deleon pleaded not guilty to the charges made against him.[20] During the trial, an FBI paid informant took the witness stand for the prosecution, but not before the defense attorney representing Deleon attempted to intimidate him, according to the judge presiding over the trial.[21] The Council on American-Islamic Relations questioned the use of informants in the prosecution's investigation of Deleon and others, claiming it can entrap suspects.[13][22] In September 2014, a jury found Deleon guilty of three of five charges; one of the charges had a maximum sentence of life in prison.[2] The two charges which the jury were hung on were:[23]

providing material support to al Qaeda and conspiring to receive military training from al Qaeda.

Deleon's defense attorneys claimed he was a marijuana user who became entrapped by an FBI informant.[2] In February 2015, Judge Virginia A. Phillips sentenced Deleon, and another conspirator, to 25 years in jail.[3] In a letter to the court, Deleon wrote:[11]

I have no excuse for my actions and believed I was following the correct version of Islam, which is extreme and radical.

Evidence which led to Deleon's conviction was released in January 2016.[24] As of June 2016, Deleon's appeal is pending.[25]

In early 2016, the FBI began to look into ties between the "Inland Empire Cell" and individuals connected to the 2015 San Bernardino attack.[9] In late May 2016, the FBI accused Enrique Marquez Jr. of having ties with Deleon and others arrested with him, planning an attack on vehicles on California State Route 91, but stopping after Deleon and others were arrested.[25] In August 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump, referred to Deleon during a speech regarding immigration.[26]

References
  1. "Two Men Who Provided Material Support to Terrorists and Plotted to Kill American Targets in Afghanistan Receive 25-Year Prison Terms" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. Angeles, Steve (26 September 2014). "SOCAL JURY FINDS FILIPINO TERROR SUSPECT GUILTY". ABS-CBN North America Bureau. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  3. Stempel, Jonathan; Takumi, Rie (24 February 2015). "Pinoy, co-accused get 25 years in US over terror ties". GMA News. Philippines. Reuters. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  4. Angeles, Steve (23 November 2012). "Father of suspected Fil-Am terrorist speaks out". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  5. Willon, Phil; Mather, Kate (20 November 2012). "Terror plot suspect: From homecoming court member to alleged jihadist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  6. "FBI: Fil-Am, 3 others charged in alleged terror plot". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Associated Press. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  7. Angeles, Steve (19 December 2012). "Mosque leader of accused terrorists, including Fil-am, speaks out". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
    Khouri, Andrew; Willon, Phil (21 November 2012). "Dependence on paid informant in terror case may aid defense". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  8. M?rquez, Liset (20 November 2012). "Ontario man recently converted to Islam, neighbors say". Daily Bulletin. Rancho Cucamonga, California. Retrieved 17 December 2016. A look at his Facebook account, which uses one of his aliases Rafiq Abdul Raheem, sheds a little more insight on Deleon's future plans.
  9. Zimmerman, Malia (29 February 2016). "Feds release new evidence, seek link between San Bernardino attack, prior terror plot". Fox News. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  10. Brumfield, Ben (20 November 2012). "Social media snags 4 U.S. residents allegedly supporting Taliban". CNN. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  11. Rocha, Veronica (23 February 2015). "2 Inland Empire men sentenced in terrorist plot to kill Americans". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  12. Nelson, Joe (2 September 2014). "FBI informant takes witness stand in Inland Empire terrorism trial". The Sun. San Bernardino. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
    Solis, Lydia V. (12 September 2014). "Fil-Am faces 15 years in US prison over alleged terror plot". GMA News. Philippines. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  13. Hansen, Matt (18 August 2014). "Terrorism trial underway for men accused of trying to join Al Qaeda". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  14. Edward Mickolus (8 August 2016). Terrorism, 2013–2015: A Worldwide Chronology. McFarland. p. 254. ISBN 978-1-4766-6437-8.
  15. Gazzar, Brenda (11 March 2015). "Terrorism-task force honored for stopping SoCal men from joining al-Qaida". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  16. "Pinoy terror suspect in US: 'We are in a state of war'". GMA News. Philippines. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  17. Angeles, Steve (1 May 2013). "Alleged Fil-Am terror suspects face new challenges". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  18. Nelson, Joe (14 August 2014). "Inland Empire terrorist suspects honed shooting skills at local ranges, FBI and prosecutors say". San Bernardino Sun. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  19. "2 men sentenced for plot to support terrorists". CBS News. Associated Press. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  20. Letargo, Mico; Pimentel, Joseph (30 December 2012). "Fil-Am accused in terror plot pleads not guilty". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  21. Nelson, Joe (2 September 2014). "FBI informant takes witness stand in Inland Empire terrorism trial". San Bernardino County Sun. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  22. DeAtley, Richard K. (25 September 2014). "COURT: New twist in terror case". The Press Enterprise. Riverside, California. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  23. Aaronson, Trevor (20 May 2015). "Double Agent". The Intercept. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  24. Eisner, Hal; Schindelheim, Ramona (16 January 2016). "Evidence from a SoCal terror plot". KTTV. Los Angeles, California. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  25. DeAtley, Rirchard K. (1 June 2016). "SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING: Marquez had ties to 'California jihadists,' FBI says". The Press Enterprise. Riverside, California. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  26. Johnson, Jenna (5 August 2016). "Donald Trump now says even legal immigrants are a security threat". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
    Katigbak, Jose (17 August 2016). "Trump to suspend immigration from exporters of terror". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
    Visaya, Momar G.; Oriel, Christina M.; Medenilla, Klarize (9 August 2016). "Filipinos respond to Trump's statements suggesting immigration ban for PH". Asian Journal. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  • U.S.A. v. Ralph Kenneth Deleon, 5:12-CR-00092-VAP (Eastern Division – Riverside, 3 or 4 – 3rd Floor 19 March 2014).
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