A Department of Energy employee was arrested and charged with trying to arm Iran-backed Houthis with explosives know-how and drone parts, a case federal officials call deeply disturbing.
Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, was taken into custody Thursday on a federal charge of attempting to provide material support to the Houthis, a designated foreign terrorist organization backed by Iran.
Fox News Digital reported that prosecutors say the Energy Department worker used specialized electrical engineering skill to help the group improve mobile communications, secure drone components, and obtain chemicals for homemade explosives.
The FBI’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force led the case. Ellaboudy faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His initial court appearance was set for 11 a.m. Oct. 2 before a federal magistrate judge in Richland.
Court records described in federal statements say Ellaboudy first drew attention after allegedly buying precursor chemicals and parts often used in homemade explosives, along with components to build drones.
In 2024, he took sick leave from his Energy Department job and said he had been exposed to highly concentrated nitric acid, a key compound used in explosive manufacturing, according to the Justice Department’s account of the case.
In 2025, prosecutors allege, Ellaboudy used an official passport from his earlier role with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to travel from Washington state to Oman, then crossed into Yemen. After returning to the United States, he allegedly told border officers the trip was authorized government business.
The Washington Examiner reported that Ellaboudy is accused of trying to improve the Iran-backed group’s communications and of traveling toward Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.
Investigators say Ellaboudy advised an undercover FBI confidential human source who posed as a representative of a Houthi colonel. For the Houthis, he allegedly tested solar generators, modified power systems, created circuit schematics, and provided communications support.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg laid out the core charge in plain terms.
"As alleged, a U.S. government employee traveled overseas and used his specialized expertise in an attempt to aid the Houthis, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization backed by Iran,"
Eisenberg added:
"Additionally, Ellaboudy acquired materials for the construction of explosive material and drones capable of delivering these explosives. These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination."
Just The News also carried Eisenberg’s warning that a U.S. government employee had used specialized expertise in an attempt to aid the Iran-backed Houthis and had acquired materials for explosives and explosive-capable drones.
FBI Assistant Director Jarod Brown of the Counterterrorism Division said the bureau stopped the alleged betrayal before it went further.
"This individual allegedly betrayed the U.S. and attempted to aid the Houthis, a designated foreign terrorist organization, but thanks to the work of the men and women of the FBI, his actions were detected, and he is now in custody,"
Ellaboudy worked in the Richland area near the Hanford Site, a major Energy Department nuclear cleanup location. That raised an immediate question about local risk.
Ray Geimer, office manager of the Department of Energy Hanford Field Office, moved quickly to close that door.
"This matter did not involve an attempt to harm the Hanford Site or its workforce, and at no time was there a threat to the safety or security of the site,"
Officials framed the case as an overseas support plot, not an attack on domestic nuclear facilities. The charge is attempted material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, not sabotage of Hanford.
The Houthis are designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and backed by Iran. Federal prosecutors say a sitting Energy Department employee tried to give that group technical help on communications, power systems, drones, and explosive precursors.
The alleged tools were not abstract. Precursor chemicals. Drone parts. Circuit schematics. Solar generators and modified power systems. An official passport tied to prior federal service. A cover story at the border that the travel was authorized government business.
Those details matter because they go to access, credentials, and trust. Ellaboudy held a federal energy job. He had previously worked for the Army Corps of Engineers. Prosecutors say he put specialized knowledge in service of an Iran-backed terrorist group rather than the country that employed him.
The Justice Department announced the arrest and charge. The FBI task force ran the investigation. An undercover source posing as a Houthi colonel’s representative was part of the case, according to investigators’ account. Ellaboudy was in custody pending his Richland court appearance.
No plea was reported in the initial announcements. Specific job title inside the Energy Department was not detailed in the public statements summarized by the outlets covering the case. The maximum penalty on the charged offense is 20 years.
Americans expect federal agencies that handle sensitive energy and engineering work to screen for loyalty as carefully as they screen for competence. When prosecutors allege a government employee bought explosive precursors, lined up drone components, crossed into Yemen after using an official passport, and coached an undercover contact on communications and power systems for the Houthis, that expectation has already been broken.
Iran’s proxies have spent years attacking shipping and projecting force across the Red Sea region. Material support cases exist because technical help, parts, and know-how can translate into real-world lethality. Federal law treats that aid as a serious crime for a reason.
Eisenberg called the allegations almost beyond imagination. Brown said the FBI detected the conduct and made the arrest. Geimer said Hanford itself was never threatened. Those statements can stand side by side: the site was safe, and the charged conduct still cuts at the core of public trust in who gets to hold a federal energy job.
Taxpayers fund the Department of Energy. They fund the clearances, the labs, and the field offices. They have every right to demand that employees do not take specialized skills overseas in service of an Iran-backed terrorist organization.
A federal employee who allegedly tried to help the Houthis build better bombs and drones should face the full weight of the law, and agencies that missed the warning signs should answer for how it got this far.
