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Pa. Man Accused of Trying to Sell Bomb (Thought undecover FBI Agent was Al-Qaida!)
Yahoooooooooo via AP ^
| 5/23/05
Posted on 05/23/2005 11:35:35 AM PDT by areafiftyone
HOUSTON - A 68-year-old Pennsylvania man was arrested on charges he tried to build a bomb and sell it to an agent he thought was a member of Al-Qaida, officials said Monday.
Ronald Allen Grecula of Bangor, Pa., was arrested Friday in Houston during a meeting with undercover FBI agents, U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby said. During that meeting, Grecula indicated willingness to build and sell an explosive device that was to be used against Americans, officials alleged in court documents.
Grecula was set to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically al-Qaida, a news release from Shelby's office said.
If convicted, he could receive a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
He dealt with an undercover officer who he thought was a member of al-Qaida, the release said. A confidential source had introduced the agent to Grecula, it said.
Grecula negotiated with the source and later with undercover officers between April and last Friday to build and sell a bomb to terrorist groups targeting the United States, according to court documents.
The FBI recorded conversations with Grecula, in which he talked about technical knowledge about building an explosive device, his willingness to put on a demonstration, and the need for all involved to "be careful" as they planned the venture, Shelby said.
TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alqueda; bluestate; counterterrorism; fbi; grecula; houston; jihadinamerica; michaelmoore; texas; tx
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To: wideawake
Hey WideAWake!
What was the bump about on the other thread?
21
posted on
05/23/2005 11:48:05 AM PDT
by
Incorrigible
(If I lead, follow me; If I pause, push me; If I retreat, kill me.)
To: areafiftyone
Should be beaten to death....
22
posted on
05/23/2005 11:48:58 AM PDT
by
theDentist
(The Dems are putting all their eggs in one basket-case: Howard "Belltower" Dean.)
To: areafiftyone
This guy must have something wrong with him...a bomb?
Did it ever occur to him that Al Qaeda probably knows how to build their own bombs?
23
posted on
05/23/2005 11:49:42 AM PDT
by
Irontank
(Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under)
To: areafiftyone
If convicted, he could receive a sentence of up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Not nearly enough. Obviously, criminal penalties for aiding and abetting terrorists need to catch up with reality.
24
posted on
05/23/2005 11:50:05 AM PDT
by
LouD
To: Blood of Tyrants
25
posted on
05/23/2005 11:51:28 AM PDT
by
BenLurkin
(O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
To: Incorrigible
Just mentioning that this f**k lives right over the Jersey border, just a few miles south of E. Stroudsburg, PA.
26
posted on
05/23/2005 11:51:48 AM PDT
by
wideawake
(God bless our brave troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
To: areafiftyone
There are a number of things that would have been serious crimes when I was a kid that are either less serious or legal now.
He has been charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, specifically al-Qaida, a news release from Shelby's office said.
This would have been treason. Of course, "threatening the violent overthrow of the United States" is also now commonplace and apparently largely legal (some question of immediacy).
27
posted on
05/23/2005 11:52:17 AM PDT
by
JimSEA
To: wideawake
Actualy he lived in florida also and is married to Monique Lopez Grecula, 36 years old.
28
posted on
05/23/2005 11:53:47 AM PDT
by
eastforker
(Under Cover FReeper going dark(too much 24))
To: Irontank
Wonder how much he was selling it for? He's gotta be a complete idiot.
29
posted on
05/23/2005 11:59:22 AM PDT
by
areafiftyone
(Politicians Are Like Diapers, Both Need To Be Changed Often And For The Same Reason!)
To: theDentist
Should be beaten to death....
Oh, he will be... he will be... in prison.
30
posted on
05/23/2005 12:00:02 PM PDT
by
SpinnerWebb
(Would you like an apple pie with that?)
To: boofus
But he's not guilty of aiding the enemy, only of offering to aid the enemy.
Sentences for conspiracies and offers to commit crimes are properly more lenient than for the actual commission of an overt criminal act (since offers may be repented of, and conspiracies undone before they come to fruition).
15 years in the slammer, and coming out as a decrepit, impoverished old man, is plenty, should it be proved that he was indeed guilty, and not the victim of entrapment by overzealous agents of the government.
31
posted on
05/23/2005 12:01:57 PM PDT
by
The_Reader_David
(Christ is Risen! Christos Anesti! Khristos Voskrese! Al-Masih Qam! Hristos a Inviat!)
To: areafiftyone
I think it's pretty cool that the FBI has agents in Houston that appear to be al-Qaida operatives.
Good job, FBI!
32
posted on
05/23/2005 12:06:34 PM PDT
by
Dog Gone
To: areafiftyone
Wasn't this something of the opening plot in "Back to the Future", where "Doc" Elliot Brown is trying to pass off some pinball machine parts as essential parts of a trigger for an atomic bomb, and had taken some plutonium so he could power the DeLorean time machine. As I understand the story, the Libyan nationalists were pretty troubled that they had been taken advantage of, and came after Doc and Marty McFly.
What an eerily realistic and highly prescient scene that was. This guy was just trying to get some cash together to conduct his time machine experiments.
33
posted on
05/23/2005 12:18:05 PM PDT
by
alloysteel
("Master of the painfully obvious.....")
To: dead
Malta sent the kids back to their mother. Legally, it's not "kidnapping" when it's done by a noncustodial parent. It's interference with a custodial order & is essentially treated as a civil matter, rather than a criminal one.
To: Yehuda
From the looks of it, he caught his ex-wife having an affair (that's where the wiretap charge comes in) & lost temporary custody of his kids to her. An affair is seen as less of a "bad act", than the privacy violation caused by tapping his own phone line & recording other people's phone conversations.
Fearing that the temporary order would be made permanent, he took off for Malta with his kids. Malta recognized the PA custody order & sent the kids back to their "cheating" French born mother.
I'm sure this latest charge is the result of him feeling that he was abused by the government & he was looking for some payback.
To: Blood of Tyrants
Don't make any assumptions on that. The phone tap is a classic tactic advocated by some militant father's rights groups. They are very anti-feminist & anti-family court. Check out the "A-Team". (I think they're still around).
To: Blood of Tyrants
Don't make any assumptions on that. The phone tap is a classic tactic advocated by some militant father's rights groups. They are very anti-feminist & anti-family court. Check out the "A-Team". (I think they're still around).
To: The_Reader_David
He will never live through the 15 year sentence.
To: PureTrouble
Most likely not, but there have been examples of aged criminals in their 80's being released from prison.
39
posted on
05/23/2005 1:17:17 PM PDT
by
The_Reader_David
(Christ is Risen! Christos Anesti! Khristos Voskrese! Al-Masih Qam! Hristos a Inviat!)
To: areafiftyone
Seriously these wackos like to play with explosives... Put him in a 2x2x6 cell so he can't lay down, and put a grenade in each hand, pull the pins, close the door and wait.
40
posted on
05/23/2005 1:23:26 PM PDT
by
Syntyr
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