His lawyers say that is reasonable because the appeal may take longer than his 33-month sentence.
But prosecutors say he may just take off for Iran.
The 54-year-old former Ashland peace activist has been ordered by US District Court Judge Michael Hogan to begin serving his 33-month prison sentence Jan. 23 at the federal correctional facility in Sheridan, Oregon.
His attorney has filed motions with the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco arguing that Seda, originally Pirouz Sedaghaty, is an excellent and reliable candidate to remain free on bail while his appeal is heard.
Federal prosecutors continue to argue that Seda is a flight risk for several reasons, including his former status as an international fugitive hiding in Syria and Iran from 2005 to 2007 while avoiding extradition after his 2005 indictment.
Defense attorney Larry Matasar counters that Seda’s time free while wearing an electronic GPS bracelet has been spotless and that the federal officer monitoring Seda has recommended he get bail, according to court documents.
In September 2010, a jury convicted Seda on tax-evasion and conspiracy charges for using his defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation charity to help smuggle $150,000 from Ashland to Saudi Arabia in 2000 and signing a fraudulent tax return to cover it up.
Though prosecutors argued Seda’s motive was to fund Islamic terrorists in Chechnya, Judge Hogan ruled they failed to make that connection.
Had that connection been made, Seda could have received as much as eight years in prison under federal terrorism sentencing guidelines.
The Medford Mail Tribune in Oregon reported that for the better part of the past three years since returning from the Middle East, Seda has been living in a Portland apartment with his wife, Summer Rife, and working at an unnamed job.
Among references in court filings by attorneys representing the government are details about the two passports Seda surrendered after his voluntary return from the Middle East in 2007 to fight the indictment.
Upon returning, Seda surrendered a US passport. He told federal officials that he spent time in Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE during his 2 1/2; years as a federal fugitive. But that passport contained no stamps indicating travel in or out of Iran or Syria, the filings state.
Seda’s defense team later revealed that Seda — who was born in Iran and later became a naturalized United States citizen with dual Iran-U.S. citizenship — also had an Iranian passport issued in 2006.
That passport included “a photograph that depicted him in a manner quite different from what he looked like when arrested in 2007, and also had a different date of birth and a different spelling of his name,” the filing said.
Prosecutors argued Seda could take advantage of his dual citizenship to get a new Iranian passport and flee the country.
