A Lackawanna man has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for his role in a kidnapping conspiracy that involved transporting his own daughter overseas and holding her against her will.
53-year-old Khaled Abughanem was sentenced on Thursday to 204 months in prison by U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. after a federal jury convicted him of conspiracy to kidnap a person in a foreign country, kidnapping conspiracy, and threatening to retaliate against a victim.
Prosecutors said Abughanem and his son, Adham Abughanem, flew from Buffalo to Guadalajara, Mexico, in September 2021 as part of a plan to abduct Abughanem’s daughter, who is also Adham’s sister. Authorities say the two then conspired to transport her from Western New York to Cairo, Egypt, and eventually to Sanaa, Yemen.
The victim was confined for approximately 16 months, from September 2021 until April 2023, with the purpose of forcing her into a marriage she did not choose, according to court records.
Federal officials also said that in March 2023, Abughanem threatened to kill the victim in retaliation for information she provided to law enforcement.
Adham Abughanem was also convicted by a federal jury and is awaiting sentencing. A third co-defendant, Waleed Abughanem, another brother of the victim, previously pleaded guilty to misprision of felony and was sentenced to three years in prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI, U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Lackawanna Police Department, and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
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