Rasmea Odeh

Rasmea Yousef Odeh
Born1947/1948 (age 77–78)
NationalityJordanian
Other namesRasmea Yousef, Rasmieh Steve, Rasmieh Joseph Steve, Rasmieh Odeh, Rasmieh Yousef Odeh
Occupation(s)Associate director of the Arab American Action Network, Chicago, Illinois
Convictionsa) Yes (life sentence)
(b) 18 months in federal prison, stripping of US citizenship, and deportation from US to Jordan, once she has served her sentence, conviction was vacated by the appellate court.
Criminal chargea) Involvement in two terrorist bombings in Jerusalem, including a fatal one;
b) Immigration fraud
Details
CountryIsrael
TargetsJerusalem supermarket and British Consulate
Killed2
Injured9
WeaponsBombs
Imprisoned atSentenced to life imprisonment, served ten years in Israel
In custody November 10 – December 11, 2014, in Michigan, but freed on bond pending sentencing; sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on March 12, 2015.

Rasmea Yousef Odeh (in Arabic رسمية يوسف عودة; born 1948), also known as Rasmea Yousef, Rasmieh Steve, and Rasmieh Joseph Steve, is a Palestinian Jordanian and former American citizen who was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) convicted by Israeli military courts for involvement in a 1969 Jerusalem supermarket bombing which killed two young civilians. She was sentenced to life in prison and spent 10 years there before being released in a 1980 prisoner exchange with the PFLP. After her release to Jordan, she immigrated in 1990 to the United States, became a U.S. citizen, and served as associate director at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, Illinois.

In 2014, Odeh was convicted of immigration fraud by a jury in federal court in Detroit for concealing her Israeli arrest and conviction. Odeh's counsel maintained she did not receive a "full and fair trial" because the judge ruled as irrelevant her testimony that her 1969 confession in Israel had been extracted by torture. In 2015, a federal judge denied Odeh's request to either overturn the conviction or grant a new trial, ruling that her argument lacked legal merit, based on evidence of her fraudulent citizenship application and the fact that the jurors "clearly did not believe [her] explanation", while "the evidence was more than sufficient to support the jury's verdict." Odeh was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in March 2015, stripped of her US citizenship, and set for deportation to Jordan after serving her time. Her conviction was vacated by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and sent back to the District Court in February 2016. In April 2017 she pleaded guilty to failing to disclose her previous conviction on her citizenship application. As part of the plea agreement she was deported without serving jail time.