New York Paralegal Blog

Naser Jason Abdo, age 22, will spend the rest of his life in federal prison for plotting to kill American soldiers and others near Fort Hood, Texas, announced Assistant Attorney General for National Security Lisa Monaco, United States Attorney Robert Pitman, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Armando Fernandez, and Killeen Police Chief Dennis M. Baldwin.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that LAGUERRE PAYEN was sentenced today to 25 years in prison for plotting to bomb synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York, and to use Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles to shoot down military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York. PAYEN was convicted along with his three co-defendants JAMES CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS, and ONTA WILLIAMS in October 2010 after a two-month jury trial. United States District Judge COLLEEN McMAHON, presided over the trial and imposed today’s sentence.

Mohammed Wali Zazi, the father of convicted terrorist Najibullah Zazi (“Najibullah”), was found guilty today by a Brooklyn federal jury of destroying bomb-making materials and conspiring to obstruct the federal investigation into Najibullah’s and his co-conspirators’ terrorist plot to attack the New York City subway system.

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JAMES CROMITIE, DAVID WILLIAMS, and ONTA WILLIAMS, were each sentenced today to 25 years in prison for plotting to bomb synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York, and to use Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles to shoot down military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, New York. The defendants were convicted in October 2010 after a two-month jury trial. United States District Judge COLLEEN McMAHON, presided over the trial and imposed today’s sentences. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “James Cromitie, David Williams, and Onta Williams voluntarily agreed to target synagogues and military planes using what they thought were real bombs and missiles. As reflected in the sentences imposed by Judge McMahon, these were extremely serious crimes that targeted New York and its citizens. Today’s sentences ensure that the...

Donald E. Oswald, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis Office of the FBI, today announces the identity of one of the two suicide bombers responsible for the suicide bombing attack at a Transitional Federal Government checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia on May 30, 2011. One suicide bomber has been positively identified as Farah Mohamed Beledi. Following the attack, the FBI obtained fingerprints of one of the bombers and forwarded them to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Those fingerprints were compared against the known fingerprints of Beledi, and a positive match was made. The FBI is continuing efforts to identify the unknown suicide bomber. Beledi, 27 years old, was indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Minneapolis in July 2010. He is one of thirteen men from the Twin Cities who have been charged with terrorism offenses for traveling to Somalia and joining the designated terrorist organization al-Shabaab. Beledi was charged with...

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, joined by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, today announced charges against two men in connection with a terror plot targeting New York synagogues. AHMED FERHANI, 26, and MOHAMED MAMDOUH, 20, are charged with Conspiracy in the Second Degree as a Crime of Terrorism, Conspiracy in the Second Degree as a Hate Crime, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree as a Crime of Terrorism and Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the First Degree as a Crime of Terrorism. The conspiracy charge relates to a planned terrorist arson attack, and is an A-1 Felony, carrying with it a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. According to the criminal complaint filed by the District Attorney, FERHANI and MAMDOUH systematically engaged in conversations with an undercover NYPD Officer, making clear his desire to obtain weapons and training to engage in terrorist activities in New ...

WASHINGTON – Michael C. Finton, aka “Talib Islam,” pleaded guilty today to attempting to bomb the federal courthouse in Springfield, Ill., in September 2009 and was immediately sentenced to serve 28 years in prison, announced Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, U.S. Attorney James A. Lewis of the Central District of Illinois, and Armando Fernandez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Springfield Division. At a hearing today in East St. Louis, Ill., Finton, 31, a U.S. citizen and resident of Decatur, Ill., appeared before U.S. District Judge David R. Herndon and entered a plea of guilty to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction (an explosive bomb) against property owned by the United States. Judge Herndon sentenced Finton to 336 months in prison in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement with the government. “Michael Finton is one of a number of young Americans over the past two years who, under the influence of a r...

A 42-year old man from Kingsford, Michigan, located in the Upper Peninsula, was arrested this morning on charges relating to explosive components found at the McNamara Federal Building in Detroit on February 26, 2011, announced United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade. McQuade was joined in the announcement by Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Arrested was Gary John Mikulich. Mikulich will be making an appearance in federal court in Marquette tomorrow morning. Mikulich is an engineering graduate of Michigan Tech University who has long complained of the FBI generally, and FBI Detroit in particular. Specifically, Mikulich frequently complains to local law enforcement officers about the FBI's "card system." This "card system" is responsible, according to Mikulich's complaints to local law enforcement officers, for the murder of Mikulich's father and thousands of other people.

SPOKANE, WA—Today, Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Kevin William Harpham, age 36, of Colville, Washington, has been arrested and charged in connection with the placement of the improvised explosive device alongside the planned Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity March on January 17, 2011, in Spokane, Washington. Kevin William Harpham was charged by complaint with the crimes of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered explosive device. A conviction for attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and up to five years of court supervision after release. A conviction for possession of an unregistered explosive device carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and up to thre years of court supervision after release. The investigation in this matter is continuing.

Defreitas and Coconspirators Plotted to Explode Fuel Tanks at Airport BROOKLYN, NY—Earlier today in the Eastern District of New York, United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry sentenced convicted defendant Russell Defreitas to life in prison for conspiring to commit a terrorist attack at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, by exploding fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport. Defreitas and his coconspirators believed their attack would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives. The sentence was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New York.

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced charges against five members of an al Qaeda plot to attack targets in the United States and United Kingdom. The charges reveal that the plot against New York’s subway system uncovered in September 2009 involving Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi was directed by senior al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, and was also directly related to a scheme by al Qaeda plotters in Pakistan to use Western operatives to attack a target in the United Kingdom. The superseding indictment, which was returned and unsealed today in the Eastern District of New York, charges the following defendants each with several terrorism violations: Adnan El Shukrijumah, also known as “Hamad;” Adis Medunjanin, also known as “Mohammad;” Abid Naseer; Tariq Ur Rehman; and a fifth defendant known as “Ahmad,” “Sohaib,” or “Zahid.” Each of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty today in Manhattan federal court before U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum to all counts of the 10-count indictment against him, for allegedly driving a car bomb into Times Square on the evening of May 1, 2010, the Justice Department announced. Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) on May 3, 2010, after he was identified by the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection while attempting to leave the United States on a commercial flight to Dubai. Shahzad was then charged in a five-count criminal complaint. On May 18, 2010, he was presented in Manhattan federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV. Last week, on June 17, 2010, Shahzad was indicted in the Southern District of New York.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, has been arrested and charged in a federal criminal complaint with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Smadi, who was under continuous surveillance by the FBI, was arrested today near Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower located at 1445 Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas, after he placed an inert/inactive car bomb at the location. Smadi, a Jordanian citizen in the U.S. illegally, lived and worked in Italy, Texas. He has repeatedly espoused his desire to commit violent Jihad and has been the focus of an undercover FBI investigation. "The highest priority of the FBI and the Department of Justice remains the prevention of another terrorist attack within the United States," said U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Texas James T. Jacks. "In that effort, it is the job of the FBI to locate and identify individuals intent upon carrying out any type of attack upon this country and its citizens/residents. Whether as...