Federal Grand Jury Indicts Amalia Compound Defendants on Firearms and Conspiracy Charges

ALBUQUERQUE – A federal grand jury sitting in Albuquerque, N.M., has indicted Jany Leveille, 35, Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, Hujrah Wahhaj, 37, Subhanah Wahhaj, 35, and Lucas Morton, 40, on firearms and conspiracy charges, announced U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson and Special Agent in Charge James C. Langenberg of the FBI’s Albuquerque Division. 

The indictment, which was filed this afternoon, charges the five defendants, residents of a compound in Amalia, in Taos County, N.M., with conspiring knowingly to provide an alien illegally and unlawfully in the United States, possession of firearms and ammunition.  The indictment also charges Leveille, a Haitian national illegally and unlawfully in the United States, with possession of firearms and ammunition.

The conspiracy charge alleges that the defendants conspired to provide Leveille, an alien unlawfully in the United States, with firearms and ammunition from at least Nov. 2017 through Aug. 2018.  The indictment alleges that, as part of the conspiracy, the defendants transported firearms and ammunition from Georgia to New Mexico in Dec. 2017.  The indictment further alleges that, between Dec. 2017 and Aug. 2018, the defendants established a training camp and firing range in Taos County, where they stored firearms and ammunition and engaged in firearms and tactical training as part of their common plan to prepare for violent attacks on government, military, educational, and financial institutions.

The FBI arrested the defendants on Aug. 31, 2018, on a federal criminal complaint that charged Leveille with being an alien unlawfully in possession of firearms and ammunition.  The complaint also charged Leveille’s four co-defendants with aiding and abetting her in committing the offense, and with conspiring with her to commit the offense. 

The defendants are scheduled to appear in federal court in Albuquerque at 1:00 pm, tomorrow, Sept. 12, 2018, to be arraigned on the indictment and for detention hearings.

 If convicted on the conspiracy charge, the five defendants each face a statutory penalty of five years of imprisonment.  If convicted on the firearms charge, Leveille faces a statutory maximum penalty of ten years of imprisonment and deportation upon completion of her sentence.  Charges in indictments are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.

The Albuquerque Division of the FBI investigated the case, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Taos County Sheriff’s Office, and the 8^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys George C. Kraehe and Kimberly A. Brawley are prosecuting the case.