A Department of Energy engineer has been arrested on a federal terrorism-related charge after prosecutors accused him of trying to provide technical support and equipment to Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement.
Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, was arrested Thursday and charged with attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
The charge is an allegation, and Ellaboudy is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
According to federal prosecutors, Ellaboudy traveled from Washington state to Oman in September 2025 and attempted to continue into Yemen.
Authorities allege he wanted to reach Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital, and establish connections with officials there.
Prosecutors say he paid roughly $1,400 for help crossing from Oman into Yemen.
He also allegedly used an official passport that had previously been issued to him while he worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ellaboudy ultimately did not make it to Sanaa, according to the government.
When he returned to the United States, prosecutors say he told Customs and Border Protection officers that his trip was connected to official U.S. government work involving missile-defense systems.
Investigators later contacted his Department of Energy supervisor.
According to prosecutors, the supervisor said Ellaboudy had not been authorized to travel internationally and was not assigned to any missile inspection program.
That discrepancy became part of the federal investigation.
Authorities also examined Ellaboudy’s purchases of chemicals and equipment.
Investigators discovered purchases involving acetone, sodium bisulfate and drone components, according to the allegations.
Federal prosecutors said some of those materials can have uses as chemical precursors in homemade explosives.
However, the charge against Ellaboudy is focused on alleged attempted material support to a foreign terrorist organization.
The government has not alleged that he actually built an explosive device.
Investigators also reviewed a December 2024 incident in which Ellaboudy reportedly took sick leave after saying he had been exposed to highly concentrated nitric acid.
Authorities noted that nitric acid can be used in explosive production.
The government’s allegations do not establish why Ellaboudy encountered the chemical or whether that incident was connected to the alleged Houthi-support effort.
As the investigation continued, federal authorities introduced confidential human sources whom Ellaboudy allegedly believed were connected to the Houthis.
One source allegedly claimed to work for a Houthi “Colonel.”
Prosecutors say Ellaboudy then began using his engineering background to assist what he believed was an operation benefiting the group.
He allegedly tested and modified solar generators and communications equipment intended for a mobile communications center.
Authorities also claim he provided schematics and technical diagrams showing how power-generation equipment could be integrated with communications systems.
Prosecutors further allege that Ellaboudy researched additional equipment that could improve Houthi communications capabilities.
Those alleged actions form a major part of the material-support case.
The Justice Department has not alleged that Ellaboudy successfully transferred classified U.S. government information to the Houthis, per the Conservative Brief.
The government also has not publicly identified any specific financial loss suffered by the United States because of his alleged conduct.
Ellaboudy’s employment with the Department of Energy adds a national-security dimension to the case.
He worked at the Hanford Site in Washington, one of the country’s major nuclear cleanup facilities.
Hanford officials stressed that the investigation did not involve any alleged threat to the facility itself.
“This matter did not involve an attempt to harm the Hanford Site or its workforce,” Hanford Field Office Manager Ray Geimer said.
Officials said neither the site nor its employees were threatened.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Ellaboudy now faces a federal case centered on whether prosecutors can prove that he knowingly attempted to provide material support to the Iran-backed Houthi movement.
