The convicted defendants -- Narseal Batiste, 35; Patrick Abraham, 29; Rothschild Augustine, 25; Burson Augustin, 24; and Stanley Grant Phanor, 33 -- were taken into custody by U.S. marshals. The defendants worked for a small construction company owned by Batiste and met for religious study in a warehouse in Liberty City. According to prosecutors, the men, led by Batiste, wanted to bring down the U.S. government and sought an alliance with Al Qaeda to carry out attacks. They initially came under investigation when a local convenience store clerk from Yemen reported to the FBI that Batiste was seeking support from Middle Eastern terrorists. The FBI had the clerk introduce Batiste to an undercover informant posing as an Al Qaeda financier.
Prosecutors said Batiste, a former FedEx deliveryman from Chicago, believed he was a divine messenger and had compared himself to Jeff Fort, a former Chicago gang leader convicted in 1987 of agreeing to aid Libya in a domestic terrorism plot. Batiste was the sole defendant convicted on four terrorism-related charges and faces up to 70 years in prison for conspiring to support Al Qaeda, to support terrorism, to blow up buildings and to wage war against the U.S. government. The group's aims included blowing up the 110-story Sears Tower, poisoning salt shakers in restaurants and launching terrorist attacks "just as good or greater than 9/11," prosecutors said. A key piece of government evidence was a grainy videotape showing the men swearing an oath of loyalty to Al Qaeda. chicago tribune
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