A Brooklyn federal jury today convicted two men of plotting to cripple the U.S. economy and kill thousands of people by blowing up the fuel pipeline at JFK.
Russell Defreitas, 67, of Queens, and Abdul Kadir, 58, a pistol-packing Shiite convert and former member of the Guyanese parliament, were found guilty after five days of plotting what the US attorney called “one of the most chilling plots imaginable.”
It took the jury five days to convict the two on five counts of conspiring to blow up the airport and related charges. Kadir was acquitted of one count of surveillance of a mass transportation facility.
The two Guyanese men, who sat impassively at the defense table as the verdict was read, face life in prison at their Dec. 15 sentencing.
Defreitas, a former cargo handler who was angry about the treatment of Muslims by the West, shot a bumpy amateur video tape of the fuel tanks and then flew to his native Guyana to peddle his sinister plot.
Little did Defreitas know that this co-conspirator, Steven Francis, was a twice convicted drug trafficker who was working undercover for the FBI.
“Even the twin towers can’t touch it,” Defreitas was recorded telling the government mole. “This can destroy the economy of America for some time.”
Although prosecutors have said that there was no Al Qaeda connection to the plot, Defreitas went to South America looking top terror leader Adnan Shukrijumah to help him with logistics.
Instead, he tapped into a group of loose-talking militant Muslims, who dubbed the scheme “Chicken Farm” and agreed to help seek out money for the plot.
The owner of a mine in Guyana originally agreed to fund the terrorist plan, but Defreitas and Francis so annoyed him, that he kicked them out of his office.
Other collaborators dropped out of the plot when they found out that Francis, whose wife was pregnant in New York, had an affair with one of the co-conspirators daughter.
Kadir, a civil engineer who traveled to Iran on two occasions to celebrate the 1978 Iranian Revolution, was drafted into the scheme because of his technical expertise.
Kadir was arrested in Trinidad in 2007 on his way to Iran, hoping to find support for the plan, according prosecutors.
Another defendant in the case, Abdel Nur, pleaded guilty in June on the eve of the trial.
Defense attorneys had sought to characterize Defreitas as an out-of-touch crank, who wanted to release trained rats into the airport to confuse security.
Kadir’s lawyers argued that he was never an active part of the plot.
Counsel for both sides promised to appeal the conviction.
Federal prosecutors maintained the plot was real and the men were determined to carry it out.
“The defendants intended to send a message by killing Americans and destroying the New York City economy,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Today, the only message is that those who engage in potentially deadly plots against the United States will be stopped and punished.”
