Last of 'Newburgh Four' released from prison: What to know
The last of the so-called Newburgh Four convicted of terrorism charges in 2010 was ordered released from prison by a federal judge on Friday.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon ordered the sentence for James Cromitie, 58, to be reduced to time served plus 90 days. Cromitie was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2011.
Last July, McMahon granted similar early releases for Cromitie's three co-defendants: David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen. They also had received 25-year prison sentences.
The four Newburgh men were convicted in 2010 of charges indicating they planned to shoot down military planes at the Stewart Air National Guard Base and bomb a synagogue and a Jewish center in the Bronx.
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They were arrested on May 20, 2009, in the Bronx after Cromitie placed inert bombs in cars parked outside the synagogue and the center. The FBI informant who lured the four men to participate in the plot had convinced them they were actual explosives.
A jury found them guilty of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, conspiracy to kill officers of the United States, three counts of attempted use of weapons of mass destruction and one count of attempted acquisition and use of anti-aircraft missiles.
The four were sentenced in 2011.
The defendants, in their motions for early release, argued that their sentences, while legal, were overly harsh and unjust. They also cited the effects of confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic; that they had been rehabilitated while in prison; and various health-related concerns, including, in Payen's case, severe mental illness.
Cromitie did not file a motion for early release until McMahon awarded it for the other three in July.
The government had urged the court to deny the defendants' motions, arguing they had not established any "extraordinary and compelling" reasons for granting early release.
McMahon found the defendants' arguments "are persuasive," while the government's were not.
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McMahon said while a reading of the crimes of conviction in this case might give the reader the impression the defendants were "sophisticated international terrorists," they were "in actual reality hapless, easily manipulated and (poor) petty criminals."
Cromitie's attorney, Kerry Lawrence, and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: 'Newburgh Four' released from prison: What judge's decision said
