MIAMI — A federal jury in Miami has reached verdicts in the third trial of six men accused of plotting with al-Qaida to topple Chicago’s Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices around the country.
MIAMI — A federal jury in Miami has reached verdicts in the third trial of six men accused of plotting with al-Qaida to topple Chicago’s Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices around the country. The verdicts in the "Liberty City Six" case were to be announced Tuesday afternoon in court. Two previous trials ended in mistrials when jurors failed to decide the men’s guilt or innocence. This third trial took two months. The men were arrested in June 2006 on charges they plotted terrorism with an undercover FBI informant posing as an al-Qaida operative. Defense attorneys said terrorist talk recorded on dozens of FBI tapes was not serious and that the men wanted only money. The four terrorism-related conspiracy counts carry a combined 70-year prison sentence. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.