Attorney on September 24, 2007, so the case could proceed directly to trial. The move (called a "preferred indictment", or a "direct indictment") meant defense counsel could not hear the balance of the testimony of the Crown's key witness, police informant Mubin Shaikh, who was in the middle of testifying. At the opening trial, against the sole remaining youth, prosecutors alleged that comments that referred to "shotgun on Blondie" were actually a pretext to sexually assault non-Muslims. Syed Haris Ahmed was convicted in June 2009 of conspiring to support terrorism, and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee was convicted of plotting to support "violent jihad" in August 2009. The two men were alleged to have met with members of the Toronto 18 in Canada in 2005. In September 2008 Nishanthan Yogakrishnan, who was a minor when charged, was convicted of knowingly participating in the plot. In May 2009, he was sentenced to two and a half years, and received credit for time served. Ontario Superior Court Judge John Sproat ruled there was "overwhelming" evidence that a terrorist conspiracy existed. He was the first person to be found guilty under Canada's 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act, passed following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Saad Khalid pleaded guilty in May 2009 to aiding a plot to set off bombs at the Toronto Stock Exchange, the CSIS Toronto headquarters, and a military base between Toronto and Ottawa. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In September 2009 Ali Mohamed Dirie admitted to being a member of a terrorist group. On a police wiretap, he called white people the "number 1 filthiest people on the face of the planet. They don't have Islam. They're the most filthiest people." He added: "In Islam there is no racism, we only hate kufar (non-Muslims)." The Crown and defence agreed on a seven-year sentence. In September 2013, it was reported Dirie had been killed fighting with rebels in the Syrian war. He had left Canada using someone else's passport. Also in September 2009, al-Qaeda supporter Aabid Hussein Khan was sentenced to 14 years for his role in the bomb plot. In October 2009, Zakaria Amara, described by prosecutors as the leader of the group, pleaded guilty to charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group, bomb charges, and planning explosions likely to cause serious bodily harm or death. In May 2010, Fahim Ahmad, described as a leader of the group,