N.Y. Temple Plot Mirrors Fort Dix Case

PHILADELPHIA - The accused mastermind behind a terror plot in New York spent time in Philadelphia deciding where to strike.

Wednesday night, investigators arrested four men accused in the plot after they planted what they thought were explosives near two New York City synagogues.

The four men appeared in court Thursday afternoon.

They were arrested shortly after planting a 37-pound mock explosive device in the trunk of a car outside the Riverdale Temple in New York.

They're also accused of planting two mock bombs in the backseat of a car outside the Riverdale Jewish Center.

Police blocked their escape with an 18-wheel truck.

The FBI says one of the terror suspects came to Philadelphia six months ago to discuss targets.

According to the FBI agent on this case, the lead defendant in the New York terror plot discussed possible targets for terrorism with an FBI informant during a trip back on November 28, reported Fox 29’s Dave Schratwieser.

There are some striking similarities between this case and the Fort Dix terror investigation that just ended in convictions and long prison sentences.

The criminal complaint in the New York terror plot says it was at the Pennsylvania Convention Center last November during a Muslim Aliance Conference that lead defendant 55-year-old James Cromitie began talking with an FBI informant about which targets to attack in New York.

“That's a closer case than was the Fort Dix case for example,” says attorney Rocco Cipparone.

While in Philadelphia, Cromitie stated, "The best target [the World Trade Center] was hit already." Later in that same conversation, in a reference to a terrorist attack on a synagogue, Cromitie stated, "I hate those (expletives), Jewish (expletive), I would like to get [destroy] a synagogue."

Rocco Cipparone, the lead defense attorney in the Fort Dix terror plot case, says the New York FBI sting sounds just like the Fort Dix investigation.

“I see a lot of parallels. A lot of similarities with respect to the background of the informant, the way the meetings were recorded and the informant really seems to be pretty central to this series of events,” says Cipparone.

Cipparone points out that the FBI actually supplied the inactive stinger missiles and the inert C-4 explosives to the New York terror suspects. In the Fort Dix case, FBI agents supplied the guns to the defendants to kill soldiers at Fort Dix. The weapons were inoperable.

“It seems to be the government believes it's got a successful model of investigation and prosecution now,” says Cipparone.

Authorities will not identify the FBI informant in the New York case. He struck a deal with federal prosecutors in 2002 on a fraud case and was sentenced to five years probation. Interestingly, Mahmoud Omar, the informant in the Fort Dix case, also struck a deal in 2002 on a fraud case and got probation.

“It tells you that this person is already amenable to lying, being engaged in stealth and deceiving people,” says Cipparone.

Cipparone does not believe the informant in the New York plot is Mahmoud Omar, but the FBI won't comment on the informant's identity.