Tagged: Shakir Hamoodi

Regional news from the KBIA newsroom, including:

• Akin holds sudden press conference, says he's still in the race
• Schweich releases letter to Gov. Nixon on Maplewood fee office
• Planned Parenthood bus holds rally in Columbia

More than 100 people crowded into Columbia's Rock Bridge Christian Church last night to celebrate and say goodbye to Columbia businessman Shakir Hamoodi. Next week, Hamoodi is expected to begin a three year federal prison sentence. He earlier pled guilty to sending about $200,000 to family, friends and charities in his native Iraq from 1991 to 2003. Many of the speakers at the event echoed a similar theme: A conflict between what is legal and what is just. Investigators found no evidence that Hamoodi was aiding the Iraqi government through the financial contributions.

A Columbia grocer convicted of violating federal sanctions against Iraq by sending money overseas is preparing to start a three-year prison sentence later this month.

Supporters of a Columbia man sentenced to three years in prison for sending money to Iraq despite federal sanctions are organizing an effort to commute his federal sentence.

Regional news coverage from the KBIA newsroom, including :

• State Supreme Court urged to set dates for 19 death sentences
• End of session will lack drama, but not fireworks
• Columbia business owner sentenced for Iraq donations

A Columbia business owner has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for sending money to Iraq for more than a decade.