Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Homegrown U.S. terrorist sent to prison

|
|
 
  
Published: July 21, 2008 at 7:45 PM

SANTA ANA, Calif., July 21 (UPI) -- A California terrorist who plotted to wage war against the United States was sentenced Monday to more than 12 1/2 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Gregory Patterson, 24, of Gardena was part of a domestic terrorist cell that intended to wage jihad, or holy war, against U.S. military facilities, as well as Israeli and Jewish targets and "infidels," the U.S. Justice Department said.

Another member of the cell, Levar Washington, 30, was sentenced to 22 years in prison last month. The men had pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last December to conspiring to wage war against the United States.

The man who organized the terror cell -- Kevin James -- also has pleaded guilty and is to be sentenced Feb. 9.

A fourth alleged member -- Hammad Samana -- has been found unfit to stand trial and is receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison facility.

James created Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh while in California's New Folsom Prison in 1997. Washington and Patterson conducted about a dozen armed robberies of gas stations to get money for the group's planned attacks in the Los Angeles area, Justice Department officials said. Their targets allegedly included the Los Angeles airport, the Israeli consulate, Army recruiting centers and a military base at Manhattan Beach, prosecutors said.

Topics: Kevin James
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional in California
AARP Movies for Grownups Award Gala The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Snowy Owls make appearance in Washington
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 20
Cold snap across Europe
View Caption
fark
Sometimes you get bored at work. Sometimes you view porn. Protip: Don't view it in the middle of...
Mein Kampfy shorts
Protip: Dude, you're supposed to wait until you actually assume your teaching job before making...
Theme of Farktography Contest No. 353: "Apples vs. Oranges 2: The Rematch." Details and rules in...
(Almost) everyone loves the Taiwanese media animations of current news events. Now, learn the cool...
The mail never stops, Jerry