US District Court Judge Colleen McMahon decided to shorten the long prison sentences handed down to three men who were convicted of planning to blow up synagogues in New York and shoot down National Guard planes.
Onta Williams, David Williams and Lear Payne were each sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of planning terrorist acts.
She determined that their sentence would be shortened to the period they served in prison and only another 90 days, so that they would be released to their homes in about three months. McMahon determined that the three men fell victim to a plot by FBI agents who tried to persuade the three men to admit that they were planning to carry out the terrorist acts against the synagogues and the National Guard planes.
“The real main conspirator here was the US. They were easy-to-manipulate petty criminals who a decade ago fell into a scheme run by overzealous FBI agents. Their trial was the product of a fictitious plot to do things these men never imagined, and had no intention of doing," Judge McMahon wrote in the ruling ordering that their prison terms be shortened.
She wrote that the decision to shorten their prison terms stemmed from concern for the health of the three men and the doubt she harbored about their conviction.
Amit Gupta, one of the lawyers for the three convicted of intending to blow up synagogues in New York, commented "We are very pleased that our clients are on their way home, even if it is already fourteen years too late. The three men were destitute, and due to their race, their religion and working class background, they have been exploited by a government seeking to spread fear of Muslims and justify inflated budgets."