“YOU KNOW,” emails a reader, “when I get arrested and charged with joining an international terrorist conspiracy, that’s what I’m going to tell the judge:“

BUFFALO, Sept.19 — A lawyer for a Lackawanna man described his client today as a loyal American who went to Pakistan seeking religious training and through his own naiveté wound up spending a few weeks in an al Qaeda terror camp in Afghanistan.

I caught a couple of these lawyers on CNN in the airport earlier today, and I have to say they were mightily unconvincing. It sounded like a Saturday Night Live parody almost.

Could these guys be as innocent as they say? Sure. My reactions may be as much a reaction to their lawyers’ performance as to the evidence. But the story’s pretty implausible and, really, just how naive did you have to be, even before 9/11, to think that this was going to be just religious training? Implausibly naive, I think. And the rest of the story isn’t a lot better:

For instance, prosecutors noted that Mosed, who is nearly indigent, spent $89,000 at a Canadian casino. But Abdel Shafal, a cousin, said that a wide circle of family and friends in Lackawanna use the same cards so they can earn free meals and points at the casino.

Sorry — I’m just not buying this.

UPDATE: A couple of readers say the casino theory isn’t as dumb as I suggest. Here’s what one sent:

My only comment is that it is remotely possible that Mosed and his extended family did spend that much money in casinos if they were sharing the cards. I’m assuming that the cards in reference are the frequent user cards given out by various casinos. They work by issuing free meals or rooms for every x number of dollars spent at the casino. I have been on gambling trips with my friends where we used other peoples cards and the casino was not too picky about whose card was being used. After all the money is still being spent in that one casino. Also it is not clear to me how you launder money by spending it in a casino. Were they going to say that whatever money they had left over was winnings? Any large amounts won in a casino are usually recorded by the casino for tax puposes when playing the slots. Explaining that your money was won playing cards or Roulette doesn’t seem like a great way of laundering money since there is no false paper trail.

Neither casinos nor money-laundering are areas of special expertise (I don’t gamble; it’ just doesn’t seem like fun to me). But okay, if you say so. Another reader explains that immigrant communities often have a variety of non-standard financial transactions going on without any evildoing being involved. That I believe — and I wouldn’t think much of arresting someone just because of the casino thing. But when it’s the casino thing in combination with all these other things, well, at some point it just gets hard to believe.

But, as I say, they could be innocent. If they are, though (or from their perspective, even if they’re not), they need more convincing lawyers.

UPDATE: Stephen Green sets it to music.