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Terror suspect freed on bail
By ROBERT KING, Times Staff Writer
Hatem Fariz, the former Spring Hill man accused of fundraising ties to the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has been released from custody after family members posted $1.1-million bail Tuesday. Fariz, 30, was released from the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in Sumter County on Tuesday afternoon, a little more than two months after his arrest on charges ranging from racketeering to conspiracy to commit murder. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo had set bail for Fariz on April 10 after noting that the government's case against him "is not substantial." A federal indictment unsealed in February cast Fariz in a supporting role of a terrorism fundraising operation led by former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. The indictment said Fariz, Al-Arian and others were raising money to support the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group the U.S. government has declared a terrorist organization and blames for more than 100 deaths in Israel and its occupied territories. Fariz, a U.S. citizen whose parents were from Jordan, was the leader of a mosque in Chicago until he came to Spring Hill in January 2002. Upon coming to Hernando County, he took a job as manager of the Abbey PrimeCare Health Center, a Hernando County medical practice owned by internist Dr. Ayman Osman. Fariz also moved his family into a rental home on Farley Avenue in Spring Hill. After his arrest, Fariz was fired from the medical office job. And neighbors said his wife and two children left Spring Hill and moved to Tampa. When Fariz signed a bond form Tuesday, he listed a Tampa address. Attempts to reach him at that address Wednesday were unsuccessful. Posting $100,000 signature bonds to gain his release were Fariz himself; his mother and father, Raba and Naji Ahmad of Bridgeview, Ill.; his cousin, Ehab Husein of Clifton, N.J.; and his two brothers, Hazem Fariz of Chicago Ridge, Ill., and Yazan Ahmad of Orland Park, Ill. A signature bond is a signed promise to forfeit an amount of money if a defendant fails to appear in court when required. In addition, if he fails to appear, Fariz and three family members agreed to forfeit two pieces of property -- in Hickory Hills, Ill., and Burbank, Ill. -- that exceed $500,000 in value. Don Horrox, Fariz's federal public defender, said it could be more than a year before Fariz's case goes to trial. Three other defendants in the case -- Al-Arian, Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Ballut -- remain in custody. A federal judge denied bail to Al-Arian and Hammoudeh. Ballut has yet to post the $620,000 bail assigned to him. -- Robert King covers Spring Hill and can be reached at 848-1432. Send e-mail to rking@sptimes.com
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