Mohamed Waes, a 33-year-old resident of Columbus, has been sentenced to 66 months in federal prison for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, communicating interstate threats, and conspiring to commit money laundering.
The sentencing follows Waes’ guilty plea in February to a misdemeanor FACE Act charge, a felony charge of communicating interstate threats, and a felony charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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According to court documents and statements made in court, Waes threatened to burn down a Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbus on July 5, 2022, because they were providing reproductive health services.
This act violated the FACE Act, which prohibits individuals from intentionally interfering with or intimidating anyone providing or seeking reproductive health services.
Additionally, between March 2019 and March 2020, Waes was involved in a conspiracy to launder funds obtained through business email compromise (BEC) fraud schemes. He and his co-conspirators created fake email domains to impersonate vendors and redirect payments to their own accounts.
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In addition to the prison sentence, Waes has been ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $273,982.08 in restitution.
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