[Jpost] A man was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for plotting to blow up synagogues in New York City, only the third conviction under a state terror statute passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
Mohamed Mamdouh, 22, a Moroccan-born US citizen, appeared in a state court in Manhattan after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy as a crime of terrorism and two related weapons charges.
Prosecutors accused him of planning to bomb various synagogues with a co-conspirator, Ahmed Ferhani, in retaliation for what they believed to be shoddy treatment of Moslems throughout the world.
Ferhani, 28, an Algerian, was considered the driving force behind the plot and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in March.
Prosecutors, who joined Mamdouh's defense lawyer in recommending the five-year sentence, said Mamdouh's role was less significant. He had faced a maximum of 25 years in prison for his most serious charge. |