Records: Birmingham man accused of contacting 9/11 terrorist may have tipped off FBI

A Birmingham man who is accused of reaching out to known terrorists possibly sent a tip to the FBI report his own conduct, according to court documents filed Tuesday in federal court.

Arkeuntrez Kenyez Lareco Washington, 28, is charged with illegal gun sales in a case that involves weapons advertised online at Arslist.com and shipped to buyers in Mexico, New York and California. During that federal investigation, agents found Washington had written letters to Zacarias Moussaoui, who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the September 11 attacks. Washington, according to federal authorities, was a U.S. Army soldier stationed in Germany and was arrested in Birmingham for desertion just before his discharge from the military in 2018.

Washington’s attorney has requested a mental competency evaluation of her client, according to a motion made public Tuesday. The attorney, Alison Wallace, stated that Washington may be presently mentally incompetent and unable to understand the proceedings against him or properly assist in his own defense.

Wallace said that during her initial interview with Wallace on Aug. 6, she observed some irregularities in responses to questions. “The defendant disclosed some prior acts that caused counsel to question the mental health of Mr. Washington,’’ she wrote. “Defendant and his grandmother denied any mental health treatment, but defendant’s mother reports a prior short-term commitment.”

“During the preliminary hearing,’’ Wallace stated, “testimony was elicited that (the) defendant had possibly sent a tip to the FBI reporting his conduct.”

The case against Washington came to light earlier this month when the affidavit against him was unsealed in federal court in Birmingham. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched its probe into Washington in July when agents became aware that Washington had bought multiple weapons from a federal firearms licensee. Such a report is generated when someone purchases two or more firearms within a five-day period from a federally licensed gun dealer.

In all, agents said they were aware of at least 15 firearms he bought in 2019 alone and Washington told them he had trafficked firearms across state lines and to other countries since April 20, 2016. Washington told investigators that he's sold guns to out-of-state buyers since 2016 after watching a documentary film about firearms trafficking. He won’t tell investigators who he was contacted by but did say he used a burner phone discarded in a trash bin in the Loveman Village public housing community on July 19. That was after agents first spoke with him. He led agents to the trash bin, but it was empty.

He also told them he had shredded mail, parcel receipts, firearms purchase and sale documentation and other records after ATF agents contacted him. Washington did not tell them with whom he brokered deals, but admitted to using FedEx, with phony names and no return addresses, to ship packages to California and New York.

Court records show agents searched multiple houses in Birmingham as part of their investigation into Washington’s activities. They found letters Washington had mailed to Moussaoui at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colo. where he is serving six life sentences without parole. Other items seized by the investigators during the searches included a journal kept by Washington with steps to building an improvised explosive device, as well as manuals on how to build IEDs and military-grade suppressors.

In a text order detaining Washington, U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. Ott deemed the evidence against Washington to be substantial. “He has made incriminating statements and continued his illegal conduct after being approached by law enforcement,’’ Ott wrote. “Evidence seized following execution of a search warrant also shows he was involved in other illegal activities, including drug trafficking. He has been implicated in robberies in the Birmingham, Alabama area.”

Court records show Washington was arrested by Vestavia Hills police in 2016 on a weapons violation after police say a masked Washington and another man were armed in a vehicle on Columbiana Road. Washington was jailed on June 30, 2018 in Jefferson County, and held for another law enforcement agency on the military desertion charges. The disposition of both the cases wasn’t immediately available but Ott noted he received a discharge from the military that was other than honorable.

Washington’s family declined to comment but said they are surprised at the charges against him.

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