Government Arrests Alleged JFK Plotters

Federal authorities revealed a plot by a suspected Muslim terrorist cell to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Government alleges that the plan was to blow up JFK’s fuel tanks and a jet fuel artery and could have caused ``unthinkable'' devastation.^[1] But while pipeline and security experts assert that such an attack would have harmed America's economy, particularly the airline industry, they said it probably would not have led to significant loss of life.^[2]

Saturday it was announced that the authorities had broken up the suspected terrorist cell, arresting three men, one of them a former member of Guyana's parliament.^[3] A fourth man was being sought in Trinidad as part of the plot that authorities said they had been tracking for more than a year and was foiled in the planning stages.^[4]

One of the suspects, Russell Defreitas, a former JFK air cargo employee, said JFK was targetd because it is a symbol of the slain beloved president that would put ``the whole country in mourning…….It's like you can kill the man twice,'' said Defreitas.<sup>[5]</sup> Authorities said the men were motivated by hatred toward the United States and Israel, Defreitas was recorded saying he ``wanted to do something to get those bastards'' and he boasted that he had been taught to make bombs in Guyana.^[6]

The U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force recorded and surveilled the men, learning that Defreitas drove around and videotaped JFK four times in January.^[7] When Defreitas returned from Guyana in February, U.S. customs officials searched his belongings and found Kadir's name and telephone number in Defreitas' address book.^[8]

Since Defreitas retired from his job at the airport in 1995, security has significantly tightened and his knowledge of the operation was severely outdated.^[9] He was arrested Friday night walking out of a Brooklyn diner, and arraigned Saturday in federal court in Brooklyn, where he was held pending a bail hearing Wednesday.^[10] Two other men, Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, were in custody in Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur of Guyana, was still being sought in Trinidad.^[11]

Trevor Paul, the top police official in Trinidad and Tobago, a twin-island nation off Venezuela's coast, said Kadir and Ibrahim would likely be extradited to the U.S. after court hearings in Trinidad and that Kadir and Nur were longtime associates of a Trinidadian radical Muslim group, Jamaat al Muslimeen, which launched an unsuccessful rebellion in 1990 that left 24 dead.^[12]

Terrorism generally is covered under 18 U.S.C. § 2332 which essentially criminalizes all homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, and other physical violence with the intent to coerce public policy. In order for one to be convicted under the statute, there must be a written certification of the Attorney General or the highest ranking subordinate of the Attorney General with responsibility for criminal prosecutions that, in the judgment of the certifying official, such offense was intended to coerce, intimidate, or retaliate against a government or a civilian population.^[13] The statute is broken into three parts, homicide, attempt or conspiracy with respect to homicide, and other conduct. ^[14]

Terrorism -- Homicide
Whoever kills a national of the United States, while such national is outside the United States, shall; 1) if the killing is murder (as defined in section 1111 (a)), be fined under this title, punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years or for life, or both; 2) if the killing is a voluntary manslaughter as defined in section 1112 (a) of this title, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and 3) if the killing is an involuntary manslaughter as defined in section 1112 (a) of this title, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.^[15]

Terrorism -- Attempt or Conspiracy With Respect to Homicide
Whoever outside the United States attempts to kill, or engages in a conspiracy to kill, a national of the United States shall; 1) in the case of an attempt to commit a killing that is a murder as defined in this chapter, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both; and 2) in the case of a conspiracy by two or more persons to commit a killing that is a murder as defined in section 1111 (a) of this title, if one or more of such persons do any overt act to effect the object of the conspiracy, be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both so fined and so imprisoned.^[16]

Terrorism -- Other Conduct
Whoever outside the United States engages in physical violence; 1) with intent to cause serious bodily injury to a national of the United States; or 2) with the result that serious bodily injury is caused to a national of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.^[17]

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^[1] Adam Goldman, 4 Charged in Plot to Blow Up NYC Airport, Associated Press Newswire, June 3, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services File.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id,
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.
^[11] Id.
^[12] Id.
^[13] 18 U.S.C. § 2332 (d)(2007).
^[14] Id. (statute cited generally)
^[15] Id at §2332(a).
^[16] Id at §2332(b).
^[17] Id at §2332(c).