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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts in Houston, Texas
May 17, 2007
PAKISTANI STUDENT SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR UNLAWFULLY POSSESSING FIREARM
(HOUSTON) – Shiraz Syed Qazi, 26, a Pakistani national in the United States on a student visa, was sentenced to prison today for unlawfully possessing a firearm, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
Convicted on January 30, 2007 following a stipulated facts bench trial before U. S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, Qazi was sentenced today to serve 10 months in prison. Qazi has been in federal custody since his arrest in late November 2006.
Qazi, a citizen of Pakistan born in Kuwait in 1981, last entered the United States on February 19, 2003, as an F-1 student visa holder. He maintained that status by filing the appropriate certificate of eligibility forms and by maintaining a full class load at the university he was attending. However, a non-immigrant student visa holder is prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm. At his brief bench trial, the United States proved that on July 15 through 17, 2005, Qazi went on a weekend camping trip with others in Willis, TX. During the trip, Qazi shot an Armalite M-15, .223 caliber semi automatic rifle during simulated military-style training. Photographs of Qazi at the camp holding the M-15, an operable firearm manufactured in Illinois, were introduced in evidence.
During today’s sentencing hearing Qazi’s attorney asked the Court to sentence Qazi to “time served.”, less than the minimum 10 months incarceration recommended through the application of the United States Sentencing Guidelines. Judge Rosenthal denied the defendant’s request finding that Qazi’s undisputed participation in military training during the weekend camping trip with others, who were training for a “holy war”, did not merit a downward departure from the applicable guideline range. In addition to the 10-month term of incarceration, the court ordered Qazi to serve a three-year term of supervised release following the completion of his sentence. However, Qazi also faces possible deportation from the United States following his release from incarceration.
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