Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, a U.S. Energy Department staffer, was arrested on Thursday morning on charges of trying to provide material support to the Houthis, a Yemen-based terror proxy of the Iranian regime, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The 51-year-old Richland, Wash., resident is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate judge on Friday morning. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
Ellaboudy allegedly traveled overseas and used his “specialized expertise” to aid the Houthis, who in recent weeks have launched attacks against Saudi Arabia and tried to close off the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical maritime chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The terror group has done so in response to the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which is key to Iranian oil exports.
John Eisenberg, assistant U.S. attorney general for national security, stated that Ellaboudy “acquired materials for the construction of explosive material and drones capable of delivering these explosives.”
“These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination,” he said.
Court records state that the FBI tracked Ellaboudy when he bought chemicals and other materials often used to build homemade bombs. The bureau also found that he bought parts to make drones and remotely operated aerial systems.
In late 2024, Ellaboudy took a sick leave due to exposure to a common chemical used in explosive materials, the FBI said. The next year, he used a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers passport to travel to Oman and then crossed into Yemen, intending to go to Sanaa, the rebel-controlled capital, according to court documents.
He later claimed that he was on official government business, but his Energy Department supervisor denied that.
Ellaboudy allegedly gave expert advice to an FBI source, whom he believed to be working for a Houthi military officer, on acquiring communications equipment that would be sent to Yemen.
