DALLAS — Note: The video above is neighbor reaction to the arrest of Yaser Said.
Yassein Said was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison by a U.S. District Judge Friday after he helped his brother, capital murder suspect Yaser Said, evade arrest for the alleged "honor killings" of Yaser Said's two daughters in 2008.
The Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah shared the announcement Friday.
In February, 59-year-old Yassein Said was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to conceal a person from arrest, one count of concealing a person from arrest, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. It took the jury four hours to reach the verdict.
In a court filing, Judge Reed C. O'Connor wrote that Yassein's efforts to hide his brother Yaser cost incalculable resources from law enforcement across local, national and worldwide jurisdictions.
Yaser Said was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitive list from 2014 until his capture in Justin last August. He is accused of shooting and killing his two daughters, 18-year-old Amina and 17-year-old Sarah. Investigators believe he was taking them to dinner when he shot them in the back of a taxi cab outside the Omni Hotel in Irving in 2008.
Islam Said, Yaser's son and Yassein's nephew, pleaded guilty to the same charges in January.
Police believe Yaser Said was angry his daughters were dating boys who were non-Muslim and killed them.
In the recorded 911 call, one of the girls is heard saying her father shot her.
RELATED: How brother, son of man on FBI's Most Wanted List accused in 'honor killings' led agents to him
“Yassein Said provided cover for his brother, an accused murder, for years, diverting significant law enforcement resources and delaying justice for his nieces. The Northern District of Texas is proud to bring Mr. Said to justice. We hope the verdict brings a measure of comfort for those who loved Sarah and Amina,” Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah said in the news release.
Concealing Yaser Said
Department of Justice officials said Yassein Said worked with his nephew, Islam Said, to harbor Yaser inside a Bedford apartment, where a maintenance worker spotted Yaser on Aug. 14, 2017.
Yassein harbored his brother in a house in Justin, where Yaser was eventually captured.
The maintenance worker saw Yaser inside an apartment that had been leased to his son, Islam, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The worker told the apartment manager, who knew that Islam was related to Yaser. They contacted the FBI, which sent an agent to the apartment, asking Islam to search the apartment.
Islam refused and then contacted his uncles, saying, "We have a problem," the office said.
FBI obtained a search warrant and breached the apartment. No one was inside, but it appeared someone had jumped off the patio and landed on a bush. The agents found eyeglasses, a toothbrush and cigarette butts, which they later determined had DNA that belonged to Yaser Said.
Twelve days later, Islam was stopped at the Canadian border and the driver told border agents that they decided to take a "crazy road trip." A search of his phone showed that he told his employer that he had a "family emergency," the attorney's office said.
Three years later, in August 2020, FBI agents began 24-hour surveillance of a home in Justin which was purchased by Yassein's daughter, Dalal. Agents saw Islam and Yassein allegedly drive up to the home, deliver grocery bags inside and carry trash bags back to their car, the office said.
A few days later, agents say Islam and Yassein left the house with two trash bags. The agents followed them for 19 miles until they got to a shopping center in Southlake to throw away the trash bags.
Agents found cigarette butts and other garbage in the bags. The next day, FBI agents executed a search warrant on the home, where they arrested Yaser Said.