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Iraqi Convicted in Terror Case Wants Conviction Thrown Out

An Iraqi man convicted of terrorism charges in Kentucky is asking a federal judge to change his conviction and prison sentence because he says he was misrepresented by his court-appointed attorney.

Mohanad Shareef Hammadi pleaded guilty in 2012 to being involved in a plot to send material support to al-Qaida in Iraq.

Hammadi says in a motion filed last month that he was pressured into pleading guilty to a dozen charges and was told by his attorney, James Earhart, he would not get a life sentence. He is asking a judge to throw out or correct the sentence.  A phone message left for Earhart was not immediately returned. 

A co-defendant in the case, Waad Ramadan Alwan, is serving 40 years. The pair was working with an FBI informant. 

Hammadi and Alwan pleaded guilty to conspiring to ship machine guns and shoulder-fired missiles to al-Qaida in Iraq. Both were arrested in 2011 in Bowling Green.