FOUR MEN HAVE BEEN CONVICTED of planting bombs in cars outside synagogues in New York city after an eight-week trial.
They were also convicted of plotting to fire missiles at military transport planes.
The four face life imprisonment.
The men – Onta Williams, Laguerre Payen, James Cromitie, and David Williams IV – were arrested in May 2009 after they engaged with an FBI informer posing as a terrorist. The informer supplied the group with inert bombs and missiles, according to the New York Times.
The FBI’s informant helped produce hundreds of hours of surveillances tapes which were presented at the trial, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The defence team argued entrapment and said that concerns voiced by Cromitie showed that the men were reluctant participants in the plan.
Last week, the judge dismissed requests for a mistrial after it emerged that a juror had seen evidence which was ruled inadmissable to the trial. That juror was dismissed, and the judge called on the remaining jurors to deliberate on the verdict.
US attorney Preet Bharara welcomed the verdict, saying: “Homegrown terrorism is a serious threat, and today’s convictions affirm our commitment to do everything we can to protect against it.”
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