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Nov 21, 2009 11:10 am US/Eastern
Final Liberty City Six Member Receives Sentence
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Narseal Batiste, the ringleader of the group the federal government said was plotting to destroy the Sears Tower and FBI offices, was given a 13.5 year prison sentence on Friday. Batiste and the other four defendants in the case were hoping to spark an anti-government insurrection after their terrorist acts.
"You've done great harm to yourself, your family, the young men who were your followers, and you've violated the trust of your country," U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard said while announcing the sentence.
Batiste had faced a maximum sentence of 70 years in prison after he was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, plotting to blow up buildings, and conspiracy to wage war against the United States. Batiste's four "soldiers," were also convicted and sentenced to between six and ten years in prison.
Batiste's sentencing was the end of the case that started with an FBI raid in June 2006 on the group's warehouse in Liberty City. U.S. officials said the plots never got past the discussion stage and the group never acquired the means to carry out such audacious attacks.
The conviction was built on dozens of FBI recordings, mainly of meetings between Batiste and an FBI informant posing as an emissary from al Qaeda. Batiste has been jailed since his June 2006 arrest, giving him roughly 10 more years to serve under Friday's sentence. After that, he will remain on probation for 35 years.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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