Jul 5, 2006 1:45 pm US/Central
Bond Denied For Men Accused In Sears Tower Plot
Seven Men Charged With Plotting To Blow Up The Sears Tower Have Pleaded Not Guilty
MIAMI (AP) ―
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Narseal Batiste, aka "Brother Naz" , one of seven men named in Federal Grand Jury Indictment, charged with conspiring with al-Qaida to levy war against the US following raid in Miami
AP
A federal judge denied bond Wednesday for six men accused of plotting to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and several federal buildings.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra ruled that the men posed too great a risk to the community to be released.
"The charges against each of the defendants are serious charges and constitute counts of violence," Bandstra stated, adding that it was "not relevant that the plans appear to be beyond the abilities of the defendants."
The six men, who have pleaded not guilty, were arrested June 22 in Miami's Liberty City neighborhood as part of an undercover FBI sting operation. They are accused of seeking to support what they thought was an al-Qaida operative's effort to bomb FBI buildings in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington.
Many of the accused men's relatives attended the hearing, one clasping her hands in prayer, another man offering a brief "thumbs up" sign.
Officials say the group's ringleader, Narseal Batiste, 32, allegedly approached an acquaintance and asked the man to put him in touch with someone in the Middle East who might be able to fund their plan.
The acquaintance alerted the FBI, which helped put Batiste in touch with a man pretending to be an al-Qaida contact who had them swear an oath of allegiance to the terrorist group, but the men never had explosives or contact with the terrorist network, according to officials.
The other defendants in the case include Stanley Grant Phanor, Patrick Abraham, Naudimar Herrera, Burson Augstin and Rothschild Augustin.
A seventh man, Lyglenson Lemorin, 31, was charged in the case in Atlanta. He also was being held without bond and was scheduled to be moved to Miami.
Each of the men faces four counts: two counts of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count each of conspiracy to destroy buildings by explosives and sedition against the U.S. government. The counts carry maximum sentences of between 15 and 20 years.
Several relatives of the men have denied they were violent. They described the defendants as deeply religious men who studied the Bible and Islam.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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