OKLAHOMA CITY, 3 December 2004 — An Oklahoma State University student won’t face charges for trying to board an airplane with a stun gun but he’ll have to wait a decade before he can return to the United States.
US District Judge Stephen P. Friot on Tuesday approved a request by the US Attorney’s Office in Oklahoma City to dismiss charges against Marzook Saleh Al-Shammary, a doctoral student from Saudi Arabia. In exchange for the dismissal, Al-Shammary, 28, will be deported and won’t be allowed to return to the United States for at least 10 years, according to court papers filed in federal court in Oklahoma City.
“He was not a terrorist,” but a doctoral student studying physics, his attorney William S. Price said. Prosecutors said the offense was serious, but apparently agreed that Al-Shammary had no intent to use the stun gun.
“I think the government did the right thing,” Price said. “He plans on going back to Saudi Arabia and being employed and finishing his degree in Europe.”
Because of a visa mix-up at the university, Al-Shammary had agreed, before the federal charges were filed, to go home and not return to America for three years, Price said.
On July 1, 2003, Al-Shammary attempted to board a plane at Will Rogers World Airport with a stun gun, according to a federal grand jury indictment issued Nov. 2.
Al-Shammary was not arrested, Price said. He is in the Oklahoma County jail awaiting deportation, Price said.
