November 19, 2009
Third Fla. terror suspect sentenced to prison
The Associated PressA third man has been sentenced in Miami to federal prison for his role in a terrorism plot to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and blow up FBI offices.
U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard sentenced 34-year-old Stanley Phanor to eight years behind bars.
Phanor was convicted in May along with four others on terror-related charges for involvement in the plot, which never got beyond the discussion stage. Two other men got lesser sentences and two more are yet to be sentenced, including ringleader Narseal Batiste.
Batiste testified the terror talks were never real and that he was trying to extort $50,000 from an FBI informant posing as an al-Qaida operative. But the men were recorded by the FBI pledging allegiance to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden.