Haitian bomb suspect appeal bid rejected

NEW YORK, Aug. 25, CMC – A United States court panel has rejected the appeal of a Haitian man and three others convicted of terrorism in 2010 for planting what they believed were bombs outside synagogues in the Bronx, New York.



Two of the three federal judges on the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, rejected arguments that Laguerre Payan and the other men – James Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams were entrapped by an FBI informant posing as a Pakistani terrorist.



The third judge found that Cromitie, 59, the chief defendants, was entrapped.



The men were convicted in 2010 in a plot to shoot Stinger missiles at military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, an update New York town, and blow up synagogues in the Bronx.



Payen and the other defendants each received a 25-year sentence from the trial judge, Colleen McMahon, who had said they were not martyrs but “thugs for hire, pure and simple.” The appellate opinion lauded Judge McMahon for her handling of the trial.



“As with all sting operations, government creation of the opportunity to commit an offense, even to the point of supplying defendants with materials essential to commit crimes, does not exceed due process limits,” said Judge Jon O. Newman, writing for the majority in the 78-page appeals court decision.



According to court documents, the FBI investigation relied primarily on an informer who had posed as a Pakistani terrorist, who secretly recorded conversations with Cromitie.



Cromitie, who had first approached the informant at a mosque in 2008, wanted to “do something to America” and die like a martyr, the court documents revealed.



The FBI said Cromitie recruited Payan and the other defendants in the conspiracy as lookouts.



“I believe the court underestimated the significant negative impact this case has on civil liberties and the legal doctrine of entrapment,” said Sam Braverman, Payen’s lawyer, vowing to appeal the ruling.