JFK terror plot suspect pleads not guilty July 16, 2007
Posted by Scarecrow in 07/12/07 Newsday 11.trackback
JFK terror plot suspect pleads not guilty
BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO
July 12, 2007
The alleged mastermind of the Kennedy Airport terror plot pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges he was involved in a conspiracy to cause widespread havoc by destroying the airport’s fuel facilities.
Through his defense attorney, Russell DeFreitas entered a plea of not guilty during a brief arraignment in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
Wearing jail garb that included a bright orange T-shirt, the slight and bearded DeFreitas stood with his hands clasped behind his back during the five-minute court proceedings before Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom.
“Yes, your honor,” said DeFreitas in a barely audible voice when Bloom asked him whether he knew the nature of the charges in the indictment.
DeFreitas, 64, of Brooklyn, was one of four Muslim men arrested last month on charges they planned to blow up the Kennedy Airport fuel supply lines and aircraft. Federal officials consider him to be a prime mover in the alleged conspiracy. Among those arrested in the case was a former member of the parliament in Guyana.
DeFreitas, a native of Guyana, is a U.S. citizen. The three others are being held without bail in Trinidad and Tobago, awaiting extradition to the United States.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Miller said that prosecutors consider the case to be complex and asked that the speedy trial clock, which mandates that a trial begin within 70 days of arraignment, be stopped until the next court date on Aug. 2.
Bloom agreed with that request, as did the defense. Miller said hundreds of hours of recordings made with the help of a cooperating witness have to be reviewed and turned over to the defense.
Outside the courtroom, defense attorney Andrew Carter told reporters that he has been conducting his own investigation of the case.
“I am extremely pleased with what we have found out,” said Carter, who then declined to elaborate.
DeFreitas has yet to present a bail request to the court and is being held at the federal detention center in Brooklyn.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/am-jfk0712,0,2389223.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
