4 men convicted in plot to blow up synagogues

Four men snared in an FBI terrorism sting have been convicted in a plot to blow up New York City synagogues and shoot down military planes.

A jury reached the verdict Monday in federal court in Manhattan after deliberating for more than a week.

Prosecutors had accused James Cromitie of hatching the scheme with a paid FBI informant he met at a mosque north of New York city in Newburgh. They also said Cromitie recruited his three co-defendants to fire heat-seeking missiles at cargo planes.

The informant helped make hundreds of hours of surveillance tapes that were played at the trial. The defense argued the government entrapped their clients.

A judge denied a request for a mistrial last week after a juror came across a document in an evidence binder that shouldn’t have been there. The juror was dismissed.