A Flushing man who was once hailed as a hero for rescuing a woman from a crazed cab driver was indicted this week for attempting to sell weapons to Hezbollah.

The FBI charged Indian national Patrick Nayyar, and accomplice Conrad Mulholland, with four counts of attempting to provide material support to the Lebanese terror organization. The indictment also charges Nayyar, 45, with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition as an illegal alien.

Nayyar had been residing in the United States illegally. He was arrested in September in the apartment he shares with his two children, wife and mother - and where reportedly he is the building's super - on another charge of illegal weapons possession.

Between July and September of this year, an FBI informant held a series of meetings as a representative of Hezbollah, during which time the two men agreed to sell bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, ammunition and vehicles to the informant. The FBI said Nayyar also allegedly sold the informant a handgun, box of ammunition and pick-up truck believing that they would be transferred to Hezbollah.

Mulholland is reportedly still in Britain, where some reports say he is currently at large. Nayyar's attorney, Martin Schmukler, has reported elsewhere that Mulholland is in custody.

In 2007 the Daily News reported that Nayyar rescued a Queens woman after a dispute over a $25 taxi fare turned ugly, and the cabbie ordered her husband out of a cab, but sped off with her legs dangling out the open door. Nayyar cut off the taxi with his SUV near 57th Avenue in Elmhurst. He got out of his car to confront the driver, gave the driver $10, and reunited the woman with her husband where the cab had ejected him.

If convicted Nayyar faces up to 80 years in prison.

Hezbollah is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary group designated a terrorist organization by section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. It is to a large degree trained and funded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and their outposts in Syria. They are viewed as an Islamic resistance movement in the Arab world and among many in Lebanon, where they have effectively usurped control of that country's South portion bordering Israel, and maintain a strong-arm in Lebanese politics.

Reach Reporter Lori Gross at lgross@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 124.