Fawzi Assi, 49, left, a former Ford Motor Co. engineer, told U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen:

"I didn't know what I was doing was illegal," Fawzi Assi, 49, told U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen as more than three dozen friends and family members watched.

Assi said he knew the equipment he tried to smuggle onto an overseas flight at Detroit Metro Airport would be used for the resistance in Lebanon, but that he didn't know the equipment was destined for Hizballah, which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist group.

At an earlier hearing, he said he knew the gear was for Hizballah and that he knew what he was doing was wrong. The gear included GPS modules and a thermal imaging camera.

Assi pleaded guilty in November to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He fled the country in 1998 to avoid prosecution but returned in 2004 to face charges.

Rosen gave him credit for the 4 1/2 years he has spent in custody.

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http://www.freep.com/article/20081213/NEWS06/812130303/1008