U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan decided not to grant bail to Izhar Khan -- who was the 24-year-old former imam of Margate's Masjid Jamaat Al-Mumineen mosque before his arrest in May on charges of supporting the Pakistani Taliban -- despite the feds releasing no new evidence against him.
His brother, Irfan Khan, and his father, Hafiz Khan, have also been charged in the case, and both were previously denied bond.
Despite Izhar Khan's attorney requesting bond between $250,000 and $300,000, his willingness to submit to electronic monitoring, and his intent to go back to the mosque in Margate as its imam, Jordan denied the request, citing Khan as a threat and a flight risk.
It's a confusing move from Jordan, who said a couple of weeks ago that he "needs to hear more evidence" before ruling -- and never hearing the evidence prosecutors said they had.
The evidence they presented didn't seem damning enough to keep Khan locked up throughout the trial.
In the federal indictment filed on May 12, prosecutors allege 27 "overt facts" against the six people charged.
Just two of those mention Izhar Khan:
7. On or about July 11, 2009, [Hafiz] Khan asked Izhar to collect from a donor in the United States money that Khan told Izhar had been approved for the mujahideen.
9. On or about July 16, 2009, Izhar caused $900 to be sent via wire transfer to [his sister] in Pakistan.
In a nutshell, Izhar Khan has been charged with conspiring to support the Pakistani Taliban for sending $900 to his sister, according to the feds.
Khan's defense says that the money was for a school that his father started in Pakistan and has nothing to do with terrorism.
He faces three counts of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, which carry maximum prison sentences of 15 years each.
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