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Jurors Begin Sears Tower Case Talks

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By CURT ANDERSON, The Associated Press

Published: December 4, 2007

MIAMI - After a two-month trial, jurors began deliberations Monday on the fate of seven men charged with conspiring to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and blow up FBI offices in an attempt to start an anti-government insurrection.

The jury of six men and six women got the case after a prosecutor underscored U.S. charges that 33-year-old Narseal Batiste was the leader of a homegrown terrorist cell hoping to get help from a man claiming to be an al-Qaida operative but in reality an FBI informant.

"This is the fanatic, ladies and gentlemen, and the soldiers who follow his word," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gregorie.

Batiste said he was only trying to dupe the informant out of money, and defense attorneys have said little evidence ties the six other defendants to the alleged plot.

The jury deliberated just a few hours Monday before adjourning for the day because one juror had a doctor's appointment. They were scheduled to resume this morning.

The members of the so-called "Liberty City Seven" face sentences of up to 70 years in prison if convicted of four terrorism-related conspiracy charges, including plotting to wage war on the United States and attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida.

All seven took an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden in a March 2006 ceremony captured on an FBI videotape, one of the key pieces of evidence.

The alleged plots never got beyond the planning stage, but Batiste was overheard on hundreds of other FBI audio and video recordings describing elements of the attacks and war that would follow.

During closing arguments last week, several defense attorneys suggested the case was blown far out of proportion by a Bush administration seeking terrorism convictions at all costs in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

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