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A Richland man employed at the Hanford nuclear site was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of attempting to provide support to the Houthis, a foreign terrorist organization of rebels backed by Iran.
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Agents from the FBI’s Seattle field office and about a dozen vehicles surrounded a Richland home in the 1400 block of Oxford Avenue near the corner of Leslie Street and Canyon Avenue Thursday morning.
Ashton Hamed Ellaboudy, 51, who lives at the home, was arrested in connection with the search. He was taken to the Benton County jail.
Agents also were at the DOE Office of River Protection at 2440 Stevens Center Place in Richland Thursday morning.
“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,” said John Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security at the Justice Department.
According to LinkedIn, Ellaboudy is employed at the Hanford nuclear site in the Department of Energy Nuclear Safety Division.
“Additionally, Ellaboudy acquired materials for the construction of explosive material and drones capable of delivering these explosives,” he said. “These allegations are so deeply disturbing that they almost defy imagination.”
The Richland bomb squad was at the Oxford Avenue house Thursday morning.
Ellaboudy came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation after agents learned from internet sellers that he had purchased precursor chemicals, components and other materials commonly used in making homemade explosives, according to the Department of Justice.
The FBI investigation also found that Ellaboudy had purchased parts used for the construction of drones and remotely operated aerial systems, said the Department of Justice.
Suspect traveled to Yemen
Court documents allege that in December 2024 the FBI learned that Ellaboudy took sick leave from his Hanford job, saying he had been exposed to highly concentrated nitric acid, a common chemical used to make explosive materials.
He told his supervisor he was distilling nitric acid in his backyard to use to make propellant in his hobby of amateur rocketry, which he had not discussed before or after he took sick leave, according to a court document.
In September 2025, he used an official passport issued to him in his previous job for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, traveling from Richland to Oman, according to court documents.
Upon arriving in Oman, Ellaboudy used this same passport to cross the border into Yemen with the intent on traveling to Sanaa, Yemen, the country’s capital, which is under the control of the Houthis.
However, court documents said he did not get as far as Sanaa.
Upon returning to the United States, Ellaboudy stated to U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers that he had travelled overseas on official government business, according to the Department of Justice.
A court document said he told U.S. Customs and Border Protection that he was assigned by DOE to inspect U.S. missile defense systems and held a “secret level security clearance.”
However, Ellaboudy’s DOE supervisor told investigators that Ellaboudy had not traveled on any DOE business in the past 30 days and definitely had no international travel. He also said Ellaboudy had no security clearance through DOE.
During the investigation, Ellaboudy began communicating with an FBI confidential source posing as a person working for a Houthi “colonel” to acquire communications equipment to be used for are mobile communications center in Yemen housed in a recreational vehicle.
Ellaboudy used his background in electrical engineering to help confidential informants test and modify solar power generators and communication equipment, according to the Department of Justice.
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Ellaboudy also provided guidance on integration of the power and communications systems, provided diagrams for the systems’ setup, and conducted research and provided guidance on other equipment that could improve the communications equipment of the Houthis, according to the Department of Justice.
Some of the work was done on his DOE workstation, according to court documents.
Houthis terrorists
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the Houthis began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea along a major route for international trade. They portrayed it as a blockade of Israel in support of the Palestinians, but the vast majority of ships had no known ties to Israel or the conflict, according to The Associated Press.
The Houthis also have fired dozens of long-range missiles and drones at Israel, and the U.S. has carried out airstrikes against the Houthis, according to the AP.
They have implemented a policy of sexual violence and repression against politically active and professional women, engaged in the recruitment and use of children, incited violence against groups including on the basis of religion and nationality, and indiscriminately used landmines and improvised explosive devices on the West Coast of Yemen, according to the Security Council of the United Nations.
The Houthis also have obstructed the delivery of humanitarian assistance in Yemen.
Hanford site not threatened
Ellaboudy has worked at Hanford since late 2022 and held a masters of science degree in electrical engineering from the California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
Before being hired at Hanford, he was a technical section engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at McNary Lock and Dam in Umatilla, Ore.
He was an officer for the Navy from late 2007 to 2011 stationed at the Naval Base Port Hueneme in California and then served as a U.S. Naval Reserve officer from 2015 to 2021.
If convicted Ellaboudy faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Ray Geimer, the Department of Energy Hanford manager, said Ellaboudy’s activities did not involve an attempt to harm the Hanford nuclear site adjacent to Richland in Eastern Washington or its workforce.
“At no time was there a threat to the safety or security of the site,” Geimer said in a Department of Justice announcement, and repeated that in a message to Hanford workers.
Geimer told workers that he recognized that some of the information released by the FBI may be concerning and he encouraged workers who needed support to contact their employee assistant program.
The 580-square-mile Hanford nuclear site was used to produce nearly two-thirds of the plutonium for the nation’s nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War and still stores radioactive and hazardous chemical waste as environmental cleanup continues.
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., released a statement Thursday afternoon thanking the FBI and DOE for their work and saying “there is a zero-tolerance policy for individuals who betray our government for the sake of terrorism, and if these allegations are true, this individual should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“I will be receiving a briefing from DOJ and DOE to understand the severity of the situation, to review protocols in place, and to evaluate what improvements may be necessary,” he said.
As the search warrant was served Thursday morning at Ellaboudy’s home, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had specialty teams in place at the home, but there was no threat to public safety.
The FBI’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force investigated the case.
This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Cartier-Giroux for the Eastern District of Washington and Trial Attorneys Patrick Cashman and Ryan White of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
This story was originally published October 1, 2026 at 1:14 PM with the headline “FBI accuses Eastern WA man of providing help to foreign terrorist organization.”
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