A federal grand jury has indicted Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, for attempting to provide material support to the Houthis, a rebel group that has seized control of much of Yemen.
The U.S. has named the Iran-backed Houthis a foreign terrorist organization.
Ellaboudy, an electrical engineer with the U.S. Department of Energy, is being tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
At a Thursday, Oct. 8, hearing, federal magistrate judge James Goeke entered a not guilty plea on Ellaboudy’s behalf.
The judge ruled that Ellaboudy will remain in custody ahead of a trial.
Patrick Cashman, a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, had argued that Ellaboudy has enough money, Middle Eastern connections and motivation to avoid sentencing to be a flight risk.
Search teams also found about 50 grams of triaceton triperoxide — a chemical compound considered a primary high explosive — in an outbuilding on Ellaboudy’s property, according to Cashman, who works with the counterterrorism section of the department’s National Security Division. Ellaboudy was also allegedly experimenting with drone technology, he said.
A conviction on the federal charge carries a maximum sentence of two decades in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and a possible lifetime of supervised release.
Ellaboudy previously worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the McNary Lock and Dam in Umatilla, Oregon, according to court records. He also served as an active duty officer in the U.S. Navy and worked at a naval base in Ventura County, California. He later became a naval reserve officer, records say.
The FBI began investigating Ellaboudy when, in 2024 and 2025, he allegedly purchased more than a dozen chemicals and materials often used to make explosives, including homemade explosives and improvised explosive devices, according to court records.
In September 2025, Ellaboudy allegedly traveled to the Middle East without authorization, then lied to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials about his reasons for being there. Court documents say he told an FBI informant, who posed as an associate, that he paid someone to smuggle him into Yemen through the country’s border with Oman.
“Ellaboudy said Ansarallah” — another name for the Houthis — “was fighting the Saudis and, by extension, Israel,” a court filing says. He allegedly “dismissed Ansarallah being labeled as a terrorist group as word games.”
Ellaboudy allegedly took steps in spring and summer 2026 to help the Houthis improve their communications systems.
He was arrested in Richland on Thursday, Oct. 1, and indicted the following Wednesday.
Judge Goeke said Ellaboudy has the funds to hire his own attorney. For now, Ellaboudy is being represented by the Federal Defenders of Eastern Washington and Idaho.
Craig Webster, a trial attorney with the Federal Defenders, reminded the court at Thursday's hearing of his client’s service to the U.S. — he is a naturalized citizen, Webster said — and that Ellaboudy is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The first Trump administration designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization because of the group's links to Iran and violent actions in the region, and to reduce their support. The Biden administration reversed the designation to make it easier for humanitarian aid to reach Yemen’s distressed, starving population. In March 2025, the second Trump administration brought back the designation.
