A Department of Energy electrical engineer was arrested after the FBI said he bought explosive precursors and drone parts while seeking to aid Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, was taken into custody Thursday on a charge of providing material support to a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, the Justice Department said. CBS News reported he is an electrical engineer at the Energy Department and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors say Ellaboudy bought precursor chemicals used in homemade explosives, acquired drone parts, traveled toward Yemen, and tried to help the Houthis improve their communications. He is due to make his first court appearance Friday. Court records did not list an attorney available to speak for him.
The case lands at the intersection of national security and public trust. A federal employee is accused of using government credentials and technical know-how to assist an Iran-backed group that has fought for control of Yemen since seizing the capital in 2014.
The FBI says Ellaboudy traveled last September toward Yemen after first going to Oman on a passport issued while he worked at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Upon his return to the United States, he told Customs and Border Protection officials he had been on a work trip and was part of a U.S. government mission to inspect missile defense systems.
Investigators then interviewed his Energy Department supervisor. The supervisor reported no knowledge of any international travel by Ellaboudy and no knowledge of any Energy Department missile inspection program that would have assigned him such a trip, an FBI affidavit said.
That gap between Ellaboudy’s border story and his own workplace is now central to the government’s case. Officials also say he later told FBI informants he had to be smuggled into and out of Yemen and that he hoped to reach Sanaa to make government-level connections. He never made it to the capital, the FBI said.
The Washington Examiner reported that Ellaboudy is charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to the Houthis and that he allegedly acquired materials for homemade explosives and drones while seeking to improve the group’s communications.
The FBI says its investigation began after agents learned of purchases of acetone, sodium bisulfate, and drone parts. Those chemicals can serve as precursors for homemade explosives. Agents then introduced informants, including one who purported to be a Houthi colonel.
Ellaboudy communicated with multiple informants and provided advice and assistance on communications equipment, the FBI said. Agents say his goal was to help the Houthis improve their communications capabilities. The Houthis are designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization and are backed by Iran. The long conflict in Yemen has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands, with fighting between the rebels and Saudi-backed government forces dating to the 2014 takeover of Sanaa.
"These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination."
That statement came from John Eisenberg, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, as Breitbart also reported in covering the arrest of the Energy Department electrical engineer.
Material support charges cover more than battlefield aid. Federal law makes it a crime to provide resources, services, or expertise to a group the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors say Ellaboudy’s alleged purchases, travel, and technical advice fit that statute.
The affidavit portrait is straightforward. A 51-year-old federal engineer is accused of lining up bomb-making precursors and drone components, lying to border officers about a phantom government mission, and coaching supposed Houthi contacts on communications gear while trying to reach their power center in Sanaa.
No defense statement has been offered in the available court records. The Justice Department has not released a full charging document text beyond the affidavit summary and Eisenberg’s public remark. Absolute calendar dates for the arrest, the September travel, and the border encounter were not listed in the initial announcements, which used only relative references.
What is not in dispute in the government’s account is the basic sequence. Purchases drew scrutiny. Informants were introduced. Travel claims failed a supervisor check. Recorded statements about smuggling and Sanaa connections followed. Then came the Thursday arrest and a Friday court date, with a maximum of 20 years on the line.
Taxpayers fund the Energy Department to protect American infrastructure and energy security. They do not fund technical help for Iran’s proxies in Yemen. When a federal engineer is accused of shopping for explosive precursors and drone parts for a designated terrorist group, the failure is not abstract. It is a breach of the most basic duty of public service.
