Sheik Pleads Innocent To Gun, Pot Charges

Sat., Dec. 6, 1997

From Staff And Wire Reports

Springdale resident Dawud Ahmad, a self-proclaimed Islamic sheik, pleaded innocent Friday to five charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of possessing marijuana.

Ahmad, 54, was born Gary Lee Smith and, under an alias of Lee Jay Barrett, served time in an Ohio prison in the early 1970s for possessing and selling cocaine.

Since then, he has founded an organization called Muslim America and become active in local politics.

If convicted on the charges of second-degree unlawful possession of firearms, Ahmad faces a standard sentence of one to three months in jail. The charge that he possessed less than 40 grams of marijuana is a misdemeanor, not subject to felony sentencing guidelines.

Ahmad remains free on his own recognizance pending trial in Superior Court on Feb. 9.

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