Crime & Safety

Australian Mistaken For Terrorist Allowed to Return Home

Ali Abbas had been given $100 million bail because his name was similar to that of someone on the FBI terrorism watch list.

An Australian man arrested in Easton last week and mistakenly thought to be on the FBI terrorist watchlist will be allowed to return home. 

Ali Abbas has been free from prison since authorities in Northampton County recognized their mistake. The Express-Times says a judge will allow him to go back to Australia to attend to personal and professional matters.

According to Easton police, Ali Abbas, 32, called attorney Raymond Lahoud on Wednesday—September 11—and threatened to “take his sister’s kids out” and “blow her house up.”

At a little after noon on Thursday, Abbas showed up at Lahoud’s S. Seventh Street office unannounced looking to speak to him, police said. Lahoud told police that “he felt extremely threatened by” Abbas, court papers say.

When Easton police arrested Abbas, a criminal background check revealed that his name is very similar to someone who is on the FBI’s list of potential terrorists.

Arraigned on two misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats and two summary counts of harassment before on-duty District Judge James Narlesky in Hanover Township, bail was set at a whopping $100 million.

But when authorities ran Abbas' fingerprints, they discovered he was not the person on the list. At a bail hearing, Abbas was released on his own recognizance.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.