DOE Worker Charged With Aiding Houthis, Facing Up to 20 Years

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 2

Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, was arrested Thursday in Washington state and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Iran-backed Houthis; he is due in federal court in Richland on Oct. 2.
Prosecutors say the Department of Energy employee used his electrical engineering expertise to help improve Houthi communications, source drone parts and obtain chemicals for homemade explosives.
Court records say the FBI began tracking him after purchases of precursor chemicals, explosive components and drone parts, and later used an undercover source posing as a Houthi contact.
A 2025 trip to Oman and then Yemen is central to the case: investigators say he traveled on an official passport from a prior Army Corps role and falsely told border officers the trip was authorized U.S. government business.
DOE officials said the case did not involve any attempt to harm the Hanford nuclear site or its workforce; if convicted, Ellaboudy faces a maximum 20-year prison term.