The ringleader of a plot to bomb two Riverdale synagogues may be a career criminal with a “big mouth” — but he’s no terrorist, his lawyer insists.
James Cromitie faces life behind bars for his conviction in an FBI sting operation that targeted radical Muslims attending an upstate mosque affiliated with the Nation of Islam.
In court papers filed yesterday, Cromitie’s lawyer asked for leniency at his June 16 sentencing.
“What happened was the government located a disaffected individual with a long criminal record and a big mouth who said he wanted to do terrible things to the United States and to Jews,” lawyer Kerry Lawrence wrote.
The Manhattan federal-court filing also says there’s no proof that Cromitie and three accomplices “had any prior connections to terrorists.”