USA: Four found guilty in New York bomb plot

19-10-2010

NEW YORK, (Xinhua): Four New York men were convicted on Monday of plotting to blow up synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down military planes.

James Cromitie and three others had been accused of wanting to destroy the Jewish house of worship and a Jewish community center in the Bronx, as well as to fire Stinger missiles at planes at a nearby Air National Guard base.

They were charged with conspiracy and attempting to use weapons of mass destruction. They face sentences of up to life in prison.

"Homegrown terrorism is a serious threat," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "The defendants in this case agreed to plant bombs and use missiles they thought were very real weapons of terrorism. We are safer today as a result of these convictions."

The jury in Manhattan federal court took a week to reach the verdict following a trial in which the court heard how an FBI informant lured the four men deeper and deeper into an extended sting operation.

Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were arrested on May 20, 2009 in the Riverdale section of the Bronx after they planted the bombs in cars outside two synagogues.