Jun 30, 2006 5:55 pm US/Eastern
Terror Suspects In Miami Courtroom Today
A Judge Will Decide If They Must be Held Until Trial
by Brian Andrews
MIAMI (CBS4 News) ―
A federal judge is set to decide Friday afternoon if suspects in an alleged terrorist plot headquartered in Liberty City must be held until trial on charged they plotted to blow up the Sears Tower and federal buildings in Miami.
The six co-defendants were arrested last week after the person they thought was a terrorist operative turned out to be an FBI informant. They were scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra at a bond hearing.
A seventh man, Lyglenson Lemorin, 31, was charged in the case in Atlanta. He was being held without bond and was scheduled to be moved to Miami. The seven men face conspiracy counts that carry maximum prison terms of 15 to 20 years.
Narseal Batiste, 32, is accused of being the group's ringleader. He told the informant that he and his "soldiers" wanted to attend al Qaida training and planned a "full ground war" against the U.S. to "kill all the devils we can," according to an indictment.
The men are also accused of seeking to support what they thought was an al-Qaida operative's effort to bomb FBI buildings in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington. The informant had the men swear their allegiance to the terrorist organization as part of the undercover operation.
Prosecutors said the group had its headquarters in a small warehouse in the Miami neighborhood of Liberty City. Authorities raided the building last week.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
