Court hears appeal of "Virginia jihad"� cases RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) Three U.S. Muslims convicted in a conspiracy that began with paintball games to train for a holy war against the United States were improperly denied a jury trial, their lawyers told a federal appeals court. A federal prosecutor, however, argued that the three had to live with their ’tactical decision" to entrust their fate to a judge. ’They got exactly what they wanted," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Masoud Khan of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Seifullah Chapman of Alexandria and Hammad Abdur-Raheem of Falls Church were part of what prosecutors called a ’Virginia jihad network" that prepared to join the Taliban by playing paintball games in the woods near Fredericksburg in 2000 and 2001. In all, the government charged 11 men. Six entered plea bargains and two were acquitted. Khan was convicted of the most serious charges, including conspiracy to levy war against the United States and conspiracy to contribute services to the Taliban. He trained with the militant, anti-American group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the government later designated a terrorist organization. Lawyers for Chapman and Abdur-Raheem contend their clients and Khan should have been tried separately. Chapman's attorney, John Zwerling, said his client was essentially forced to choose a bench trial because a jury's post-9/11 passions might be inflamed by the more serious allegations against Khan. Khan's attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, suggested his client may have waived his right to a jury trial because of pressure from his co-defendants and that all three men may have based their decision on ’a misapprehension about what their trial would be like." Appellate Judge H. Emory Widener Jr. seemed unimpressed with the defense attorneys' arguments. ’If a feeling that you can't get fair trial is reason to reverse a case, we'd have to reverse them all," Widener said. Lawyers for Chapman and Khan also are appealing their clients' sentences. Khan was originally sentenced to life plus 65 years in prison, but that was reduced to life plus 45 years. Chapman's original 85-year sentence was reduced to 65 years. The government is appealing Abdur-Raheem's sentence reduction from eight years and a month to four years and four months.

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