Posted on 06/04/2009 4:42:53 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
WHITE PLAINS — The four Newburgh men accused of plotting to blow up two New York City synagogues and military aircraft at Stewart Airport pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to federal terrorism charges that could put them in prison for life.David Williams, 28; Onta Williams, 32; Laguerre Payen, 27; and accused ringleader James Cromitie, 44, were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison.State prison records list Cromitie’s age as 44, but he told Davison Wednesday that he is 42. Cromitie has also said he’s 53 or 55 years old. The routine proceeding lasted about 20 minutes, and then the four were whisked out of the courtroom by U.S. Marshals who returned them to the Westchester County Jail. They’ve been held there without bail since they were arrested May 20th by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Taskforce. They’re due back in court Friday for a conference before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon, who was assigned the case Wednesday. Payen’s court-appointed lawyer, Marilyn S. Reader, told the judge that her client has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and she said she’s arranging for an independent evaluation to help determine whether Payen is mentally competent to stand trial. But a prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder, scoffed at any suggestion that Payen doesn’t comprehend the eight-count indictment that was unsealed Tuesday. Snyder told the judge that audio and video surveillance of planning meetings for the alleged terror plot show Payen talking “in a very sophisticated way, in a normal cadence.” Payen, who said he finished his schooling in the 11th grade, told the judge, “I don’t understand, like, the stuff the courts talk about.” The arraignment was observed by a woman from Newburgh, Essence Ross, who described herself as a longtime friend of David Williams’ family. She repeated the family’s assertion that the FBI informant who’s at the center of the case lured Williams into the plot with talk of helping Williams obtain $25,000, so that Williams' younger brother could get a liver transplant. The indictment alleges that the four men are Islamic extremists driven by their hatred of America and Jews. Ross dismissed those allegations, saying that David Williams “is not a hateful person.”
“...The arraignment was observed by a woman from Newburgh, Essence Ross, who described herself as a longtime friend of David Williams’ family.”
Let me guess what Essence Ross has to say: He’s a proud father of X number children, was turning his life around, was working on getting his GED and going to college, enjoyed helping others, blah.... blah... blah...
How long until Farrakhan, Jackson, and others show up for televised sound bite?
Isn’t there a DU dummie running for city council there?
Yeah, the mdmc primitive.
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