According to papers filed by the defense lawyers, James Cromitie, the alleged mastermind behind May's Bronx synagogue terrorist plot, had been offered up to $250,000 by a government informant. The NY Times reports that the papers detailed how the informant, identified as Shaheed Hussain, encouraged Cromitie to identify targets and even recruit others on the terrorist mission. The defense lawyers want the trial thrown out under entrapment rules, claiming Cromitie wouldn't have attempted the bombing without Hussain's influence.
The defense presented recordings which allegedly show Hussain trying "to cobble together a ‘conspiracy’ where none existed." Hussain had posed as a representative for a Pakistani terrorist organization with connections to Al Qaeda, and according to court papers, tempted recruits with cash payments. Cromitie claimed he was told to offer $25,000 to anyone willing to act as a lookout, and though Hussain said recruits must be passionate about "the cause," Cromitie said, "They will do it for the money...They’re not even thinking about the cause."
Susanne Brody, one federal defender, wrote to the US District Court, "But for government’s money and supplies and Hussain’s indefatigable efforts, there is not the slightest chance that the crimes charged would or even could have occurred." The family and friends of the four men accused of the terrorist plot already claimed that a different informant, known as "Masquood," promised "cash, free food, rent money and even bags of marijuana" to participants. So maybe Cromitie's lawyer can argue that his client was just wicked stoned when he revealed his disappointment in not getting to take down the WTC himself.
