'Hezbollah' dad tried to help thugs

[haldir]

Two men -- including a married father of two from Queens -- were hit with federal terrorism charges yesterday for trying to provide weapons, ammunition and vehicles to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, prosecutors said.

Patrick Nayyar, 45, of Flushing -- who is being held without bail -- and his alleged accomplice, Conrad Mulholland, 43, who is still at large, were indicted in Manhattan for conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

The men are accused of supplying a Colt handgun, hollow-point bullets and a pickup truck to an FBI informant who said he worked for the terrorist organization, according to court papers.

In a series of meetings from July through September, the suspects allegedly made a deal to sell the informant additional guns, vehicles, bulletproof vests and night-vision goggles.

According to court papers, the weapons changed hands in Nayyar's mother's apartment, which is in his building.

On Aug. 3, Nayyar -- an illegal immigrant from India who was denied citizenship in 2006 for undisclosed reasons -- directed his mother to bring a gun from her bedroom to show the informant, who was wearing a wire.

The woman left the room and returned with a black handgun, according to court papers.

Nayyar -- a contractor who also worked as the super at his building -- handed the weapon to the informant, along with a box of ammunition that was marked "For Law Enforcement Use Only, Not for Retail Sale," the feds charge.

Two days later, the informant returned to the apartment and paid him $1,000.

Nayyar, who was picked up at his home on Sept. 24, was initially charged in Brooklyn federal court with a lesser count of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

That charge was dismissed on Monday.

Yesterday, he was arraigned on the new charges in Manhattan federal court, pleading not guilty to five counts of providing material support to a terrorist organization, making contributions to Hezbollah and illegal possession of a weapon.

He faces 80 years in prison if convicted.

"I know he dealt with suspicious people, but he's not a terrorist," said Nayyar's mom, Sushila, 75, who was not charged in the case.

"He's a hard worker who was disturbed by the death of his father [in 2008]."

His lawyer, Martin Schmukler, scoffed at the allegations.

"This is not what I would call the high-water mark in terrorism cases," he said.

"There are no criminal masterminds here. There are no killers here. There are no terrorists here."

Officials say Mulholland, a British citizen, is on the loose in England.

But Schmukler claims he has been detained there. With Reuters