A Lynnwood soldier accused of trying to spy for al-Qaida terrorists will have a military court-martial but will not face the death penalty, the Army announced Wednesday.
Spc. Ryan G. Anderson, 26, was arrested in February after Army counterintelligence agents posed as terrorists. A meeting with two of them in a car was secretly recorded and played during a hearing in May. At that time, an officer recommended a general court-martial.
Lt. Gen. Edward Soriano, commanding general of 1st Corps at Fort Lewis, made the decision June 9, and the Army announced it Wednesday.
Anderson’s arraignment is scheduled for Friday at Fort Lewis.
It was not immediately known when or where the court-martial will be conducted.
He is charged with five counts of trying to provide information about troop strength, methods for killing U.S. soldiers and other information to people he thought were al-Qaida agents. Some of the charges carry a maximum penalty of death, but the Army has ruled that out in Anderson’s case.
He could face life in prison if convicted. Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Hitt said Soriano would not give a public explanation for why he decided not to pursue the death penalty, the Associated Press reported. Anderson’s attorney, Maj. Joseph Morse, and the prosecutor, Maj. Chris Jenks, declined comment, Hitt said Wednesday.
Anderson was raised as a Lutheran in south Everett. He converted to Islam while at Washington State University. He’s a 1995 graduate of Cascade High School in Everett.
The Lynnwood soldier is a member of the Washington National Guard’s 81st Armor Brigade, which is now in Iraq. He was arrested as his unit was preparing for a yearlong deployment.
The Army got involved in the case after an amateur terrorist sleuth from Montana noticed a posting on an extremist Islamic Web site and traced it to Anderson. The sleuth, Shannen Rossmiller, testified in May that she corresponded for months with Anderson, pretending to be an extremist.
At one point, he told her he was “bearing the arms of the enemy” and wanted to switch sides, she testified.
Anderson discussed methods to kill crew members of the M1A1 Abrams tank without damaging the machine with the Army the agents, and said he loved his homeland but believed his country had “taken the wrong turn.”
Anderson’s wife, Erin, of Lynnwood did not return a phone call from The Herald Wednesday.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
