A 24-year-old Southern California man pleaded not guilty Friday to accusations he attempted to provide material support to the al-Qaida terror network, the FBI said.
Read: Grand Jury Indictment
Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen, also known as Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum, was arrested at a bus station Friday morning as he attempted to board a bus to Mexico from a station in the 1000 block of East Santa Ana Boulevard, authorities said.
Nguyen was named in an indictment handed down Friday morning by a Los Angeles grand jury.
The indictment accused Nguyen of "knowingly attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida." He also faces a charge of making false statements on a passport application. Nguyen, a United States citizen, allegedly lied on the passport application "in order to facilitate an act of international terrorism."
The indictment provided few specifics regarding the accusations. Nguyen appeared in court Friday afternoon where he entered a not guilty plea and was remanded to federal custody, the FBI said.
He is scheduled to appear in court again Oct.18. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in federal prison.
Nguyen's brother said the 24-year-old suspect was training to be a truck driver and lived with his grandfather in Garden Grove, a home raided by FBI agents who seized, among other items, a cellphone and a computer.
Dinh Nguyen told NBC4 his brother visited Lebanon this past year for several months and converted to Islam, but never discussed politics or said anything anti-American.
The FBI said Sinh Nguyen, a graduate of Bolsa High School, changed his name to Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum.
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