A U.S. District Court judge yesterday freed a former director of a defunct Islamic charity after ruling that a jury should not have convicted the man in January of most of the tax-related crimes for which he and another charity leader had been tried, reports The Boston Globe.

The judge, F. Dennis Saylor IV, acquitted Samir Al-Monla of conspiring to defraud the United States and of concealing the origins of the Boston-area charity, Massachusetts Care International. The charity had been accused of publishing newsletters promoting jihad and supporting Islamic militants overseas.

Mr. Saylor also acquitted Emadeddin Muntasser – the founder of the charity – of the same charges but sustained Mr. Muntasser’s conviction for making a false statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about having visited Afghanistan. Mr. Muntasser’s lawyers said they hoped time already served by their client — close to the maximum sentence of six months for such a crime — will mean he will be freed soon.

The judge said federal prosecutors failed to prove that the two defendants schemed to deceive the Internal Revenue Service about their group’s activities. He also said the government’s evidence against the two men was weak.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said he will seek permission from the U.S. solicitor general’s office to appeal the ruling.

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