Topalian is known as a prominent member of the Armenian community in the USA. According to
US News, "tall and charismatic", Topalian "was well known in the halls of Congress and had met with President
Bill Clinton a half-dozen times." In 1999, Mourad Topalian moved to Cleveland and took a job as vice president of
Cuyahoga Community College. For many of Topalian's "alleged" compatriots he was not to be charged because of the expired statute of limitations. group, Mourad Topalian. The attacks ebbed by the mid-1980s, but many of them went unsolved. and was suspected of links to two 1981 bombings in
California, against the
Orange County Convention Center in
Anaheim and the Turkish consulate in
Beverly Hills. But the most serious charge against Topalian was that of involvement in a car bombing that injured three people outside the Turkish Mission to the
United Nations in New York City in October 1980. Police suspect that he helped arrange the bombing and directed a group that stole weapons and explosives used for the attack. Topalian was questioned about the New York bombing and denied he was a terrorist but agreed to plead guilty to storing the weapons, which prosecutors said were used in the Turkish Mission bombing.
Conviction Topalian was charged in October 1999 with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of explosives and firearms (possession of machine guns and possession of firearms with defaced serial numbers), and transportation of them in interstate commerce. The Bedford storage facility used by him and his accomplices was within the vicinity of Childtime Children's
Day Care Center, an operating gas station, and an office complex. The storage was less than 300 feet from a public highway with a daily traffic volume of 3,000 vehicles. The charges of terrorism were dropped by the US Government after the plea-bargaining and his admission of some of the charges. Topalian denied he was a terrorist, and agreed to plead guilty only to storing the weapons. Topalian reached an agreement with prosecutors in 2001, pleading guilty to charges of storing illegal explosives and owning two machine guns, and was sentenced to 37 months in prison. == Awards ==