DOE Engineer at Hanford Nuclear Site Charged With Trying to Help Houthis Build Drones and Explosives

A Department of Energy employee with access to one of America's most sensitive nuclear sites is accused of trying to help a U.S.-designated terrorist group build drones and bombs.

Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, of Richland, Washington, was arrested Thursday, October 1, at the Hanford nuclear site, according to the Justice Department. He's charged with attempting to provide material support to the Houthis, the Iran-backed group that controls much of Yemen and has repeatedly attacked shipping in the Red Sea.

He's scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday in Richland. Court records reviewed by the Associated Press do not list an attorney available to speak on his behalf, and no plea has been entered.

What Prosecutors Allege

According to an FBI affidavit cited by the Associated Press and the Justice Department, Ellaboudy, an electrical engineer, purchased precursor chemicals commonly used in homemade explosives, including acetone and sodium bisulfate, along with drone components.

In December 2024, prosecutors say, Ellaboudy took sick leave from his DOE job after claiming exposure to highly concentrated nitric acid, a chemical that can be used in explosives manufacturing, according to Gulf News.

In September 2025, he allegedly used an official passport issued during an earlier stint with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to travel from Richland to Oman, then crossed into Yemen. He told FBI informants he had to be smuggled into and out of the country, and that he hoped to reach the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, to establish government-level contacts. The FBI says he never made it to Sanaa.

When he returned to the United States, Ellaboudy allegedly told Customs and Border Protection officers he had been on a work trip from Oman as part of a U.S. government mission to inspect missile defense systems. Investigators interviewed his DOE supervisor, who said he had no knowledge of any such international travel or missile inspection program involving Ellaboudy, according to the affidavit.

During the investigation, the FBI says Ellaboudy communicated with multiple informants, including one posing as a Houthi colonel, and provided advice on communications equipment, tested solar generators, modified power systems and drew circuit schematics to help the group's infrastructure.

"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," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement. "These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination."

If convicted, Ellaboudy faces up to 20 years in prison, according to Gulf News.

Ellaboudy has not entered a plea and has not been convicted of anything. The case rests on an FBI affidavit built in part around undercover informants, including someone posing as a Houthi official. This is a common and legal investigative tool, but it means much of the public case so far is the government's characterization of recorded conversations rather than independently verified Houthi contact.

The FBI's own account says Ellaboudy failed to reach Sanaa and never established the government-level Houthi contacts he allegedly sought. Whether his assistance actually reached real Houthi operators, as opposed to FBI informants only, is a question the trial will have to answer.

A Separate Case, Same Backdrop

The arrest comes amid a string of Iran-linked security incidents reported this week. CNN reported that a British-Iranian dual national was arrested in Westminster, London, on suspicion of "preparation of terrorist acts" tied to an alleged plot against RAF Fairford, a UK airbase used by the U.S. military. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there are "strong indications" Iran was involved, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the plot "clearly involved the hands of a foreign actor." Iran has called the accusations baseless and summoned Britain's ambassador in Tehran.

That UK case and the Ellaboudy prosecution are separate investigations on separate continents with no established link between them in the available court records or official statements. Fox News framed its coverage of the Hanford arrest under a headline describing "Iran's proxy war" reaching American soil, a characterization that reflects editorial framing rather than anything alleged in the DOJ complaint itself, which focuses solely on Ellaboudy's individual conduct.

What Happens Next

Ellaboudy's initial appearance before a federal magistrate in Richland is scheduled for Friday. The Justice Department has not said whether it will seek detention pending trial. The FBI's Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force led the investigation, and prosecutors have not disclosed whether additional charges, including those tied to his access at Hanford, a Cold War-era plutonium production site that still stores radioactive waste, are under consideration.