Lynnwood Guardsman to face court-martial

By Ray Rivera
Seattle Times staff reporter

Ryan G. Anderson was arrested in February.

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Spc. Ryan G. Anderson, 26, is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow at Fort Lewis, where he has been held without bail since his February arrest.

Lt. Gen. Edward Soriano ordered the military trial June 9, but it was not made public until yesterday.

A trial date has not been set, said Army spokesman Steven Field.

Anderson is charged with five counts of trying to give aid and military intelligence to people he believed to be members of the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The most serious charge, attempting to aid the enemy, carries a maximum penalty of death. But military officials said the maximum penalty Anderson would face is life in prison.

Anderson, a Muslim convert who grew up in Everett, was a tank crewman with the Washington National Guard's 81st Armored Brigade, which is now in Iraq. He was arrested Feb. 12 after a government sting at Fort Lewis, where his unit was in final training for its yearlong deployment.

At a preliminary hearing last month, prosecutors showed a video of Anderson talking to undercover agents he allegedly believed to be al-Qaida recruiters. In the hourlong video, Anderson gave the agents unclassified schematics of M1A1 Abrams tanks and described ways of destroying the vehicles and killing their crews. On the video, he also spoke about the possibility of defecting to join al-Qaida and offered to help train the group's fighters to assault U.S. convoys.

Anderson and his defense team have declined interviews.

Ray Rivera: 206-464-2926 or rayrivera@seattletimes.com

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