Excellent news and thanks to everyone out there that applied the necessary pressure on our US Embassy in the UAE, and for your support in this case. This will certainly be a wonderful holiday gift to Nicholas and his friends and family. –Matt
Charges dismissed against American in UAE weapons case
December 14, 2010
The charges against an American soldier who had been detained for more than two months in the United Arab Emirates have been dismissed, authorities said.
Cpl. Nicholas Moody, from Nevada, was arrested September 29 during an 18-hour layover in Abu Dhabi while heading back from his job as a private security contractor in Iraq.
Moody was charged with possession of weapons accessories — parts that could accompany a gun, though no firearm itself — which is illegal in the UAE.
Charges against Moody, were dismissed Monday said Melhem Sharrouf, one of Moody’s attorneys.
Moody, who has served in Iraq and then Afghanistan as part of the California and then Nevada National guards, had been released from jail on bail, but it was uncertain when he would be allowed to leave the United Arab Emirates.
Moody’s visa expired while he was in jail and his passport was being held by the government, his attorneys said. He would need to renew his visa before he could leave.
Those who created a support website on Facebook rejoiced about the development in the case. More than 2,500 people have expressed support to the “Help Bring Nick Moody Back Home” site on Facebook.
“NICK’S CASE WAS DISMISSED!!!!!!!!!! The paperwork will take a couple days, then travel arrangements will be made for Nick to come home! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE LOVE, LETTERS, SUPPORT, PRAYERS AND POSITIVE ENERGY!” the site said.
In a November interview, Moody’s mother, Lorina Moody, said she was still coming to grips to how he landed in jail.
“Our son is the type of individual who would not have willingly broken the law,” said Lorina Moody of Susanville, California.
“It seems so ironic that a man who, after serving our country in two combat zones … is the one who got pulled aside,” she said.
After graduating from high school in 2005, Nicholas Moody enrolled in the California National Guard and, for a time, served in Iraq, according to his mother. He later moved to Reno, intending to attend the University of Nevada campus there, and joined the Nevada National Guard. Nicholas Moody became an inactive guardsman when he took his latest job in Iraq with a security company, which Lorina Moody declined to name.
Nicolas Moody had said in an earlier interview that the accessories he was carrying were not dangerous. The items included a pistol grip, a buttstock, a plastic front grip, a single-point sling adaptor, a buckle from a single point sling, a cleaning kit and an armorer’s wrench.
Moody said he did not know the items were illegal. He said they were in his possession because he had recently resigned his position in Iraq and the items were his personal property.
In that interview Moody said: “I’m hoping there’s a still a chance that this will be resolved in time to make it home to spend Christmas with my family.”
Story here.