Posted on 11/06/2007 12:41:56 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SCRANTON, Pa. - A man was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Tuesday for plotting to help a supposed al-Qaida operative blow up U.S. oil pipelines and refineries.
Michael C. Reynolds claimed he had been trying to root out terrorists on the Internet, but was convicted in July of providing material support to terrorists and other charges.
"Today's sentencing constitutes a triumph of the rule of law over those who would use terror against this nation," Acting U.S. Attorney Martin Carlson said in a statement.
David P. Cherundolo, a defense attorney assigned to Reynolds in August, said Tuesday that Reynolds is now representing himself. Reynolds has been jailed in Scranton since his December 2005 arrest and was awaiting transfer to a federal prison.
Reynolds, 49, was arrested after authorities said he tried to meet a purported al-Qaida contact about 25 miles from a motel in Pocatello, Idaho, where he had been staying. The contact was actually a judge from Conrad, Mont., who was working for the FBI.
Reynolds testified during his trial that he was working as a private citizen to uncover terrorist plots and that his Internet communications were meant to ensnare a person he thought was a terrorist.
Prosecutors said Reynolds wanted to work with al-Qaida to target the Williams natural gas refinery in Opal, Wyo.; the Transcontinental Pipeline, a natural-gas pipeline that runs from the Gulf Coast through Pennsylvania to New York and New Jersey; and a Standard Oil refinery in Perth Amboy, N.J., that no longer exists.
Prosecutors said Reynolds thought his plan would help end the war in Iraq because troops would have to be recalled to help guard the nation's energy infrastructure. He also owed child support and may have been motivated by greed, they said.
At the meeting in Idaho, Reynolds expected to receive $40,000 to finance the plot.
Reynolds was convicted on two counts of providing material support to terrorists; soliciting a crime of violence; unlawful distribution of explosives; and unlawful possession of a hand grenade. He was acquitted of another count of unlawful possession of a hand grenade.
Was he REALLY trying to help? If so, how did they ‘entrap’ him?
He is a treasoness rat, the virulent anti-WOT, pro-terrorist breed. Perhaps he is the vanguard of the fifth column. Others are waiting behind him.
Well unless he can point to his contacting the law and giving them an option of getting in on the buy operation to bag some al qaeda types I aint believin him.
Oh, I don’t believe him either. But, in America you’re innocent until proven guilty, right? He was GUILTY! lol
Based on my jury experience you can be guilty as sin and there will be several on the jury who just won’t want to send a man to jail.
So he musta been really really guilty.
Same here. I’ve served on a few juries.
MOST of them found the person not guilty. All but one were “gun related”.... where they were trying to find someone guilty of “illegally carrying concealed weapons”. In none of the cases I heard were the people criminals, but simple got caught up in the wrong place, wrong time and weren’t even involved in the initial incident. Cops merely arrested them based on them being in the area.
Three cases had no probable cause for even talking to the person and in those, two were carrying weapons that were out in the open. One had a coat fall over the weapon when the vehicle was stopped (and we made them show us what happened. The Cop didn’t have a leg to stand on).
One we found guilty, he was a robber. Got a few years.
So, yeah, in a lot of cases you will find someone has decided ahead of time “innocent” or “guilty”. In one case, a young lady on our jury stated to us, “He’s guilty because he had a gun. I don’t like guns.”
Everyone else was voting not guilty. We stayed very late that night.
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