Terrorist plots uncovered in the US since 9/11

Four members of a local terrorist cell, Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh (JIS), were arrested in Los Angeles and charged with conspiring to attack the L.A. International Airport, a US military recruiting center, and the Israeli Consulate. Kevin James allegedly founded JIS while in prison, converting co-conspirators Levar Haley Washington, Gregory Vernon Patterson, and Hammad Riaz Samana. James and Washington pleaded guilty in December 2007. James received 16 years in prison and Washington 22 years. Patterson received 12 years, 3 months. Samana was found unfit to stand trial and detained in a federal prison facility.

Michael Reynolds, Wyoming refinery plot – December 2005

Michael Reynolds was charged with involvement in a multistate plot to blow up a Wyoming natural-gas refinery and other pipeline and refinery targets. He was arrested while trying to pick up a $40,000 payment for planning the attack. Shannen Rossmiller, his purported contact, was a Montana judge who was working with the FBI to nab terrorists online and had been corresponding with Reynolds. The FBI later tracked explosives in a storage locker in Reynolds's hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Reynolds was convicted of providing material support to terrorists and three explosives-related charges. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Syed Haaris Ahmed and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee – April 2006

Ahmed, from Pakistan, and Sadequee, an American of Bangladeshi descent, were charged with conspiracy. Sadequee was also charged with lying to authorities regarding another terror investigation. It was alleged that the two went to Canada to meet with co-conspirators and made videos to send to extremist groups. Ahmed was found guilty of conspiracy in June 2009. Sadequee, whose trial began in August 2009, was also convicted. Sentencing is set for Oct. 18.

Sears Tower plot – June 2006

Seven men, all of Haitian descent, were arrested in Atlanta and Miami. Authorities said the men, led by Narseal Batiste, conspired to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and a federal building in Miami. Five of the men are US citizens, one a legal immigrant, and one an illegal immigrant. All seven – Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Burson Augustin, Rotschild Augustine, Naudimar Herrera, Lyglenson Lemorin, Stanley Grant Phanor – pleaded not guilty. Lemorin was acquitted in December 2007, and no verdict was returned for the other defendants. A second trial ended in mistrial in April 2008. The third trial ended in May 2009, with all convicted except Herrara.

Hudson River bomb plot – July 2006

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