Liberty City Seven - Trials

Trials

All seven were denied bail since their arrest. Their trial began on 2 October 2007 with the threat of up to 70 years in prison if convicted of all charges, and ended on 13 December with one defendant acquitted and the jury unable to return a verdict on the other six, for whom a retrial was scheduled for 7 January 2008. On April 16, 2008, the federal judge in the case declared a second mistrial for the six remaining defendants after the jury had been deadlocked for 13 days.

The presiding judge for all three trials was Joan A. Lenard.

The first trial began on October 2, 2007 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Prosecutors presented evidence drawn from 15,000 FBI recordings, including one in which Narseal Batiste said the would make sure no one survived destruction of the 110-story Sears Tower, and another which features ceremony in which each member of the group swears allegiance to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The defense claimed that the men played along with the talk by the FBI informants of terrorist plots in the hope of obtaining money, and that they never constituted a credible terrorist threat. In the second week of the trial two of the jurors were dismissed after a police counter-terrorism pamphlet was found in the jury room.

The defense rested its case on November 20, 2007. The prosecution alleging that although the defendants did not have the means to carry out a terrorist attack, they "were a ready-made terrorist cell here for al-Qaeda" who sought to use their attacks on the Sears Tower to spark an insurrection, topple the government, and bring about the destruction of the United States. The first trial ended on December 13, 2007. Lyglenson Lemorin was acquitted of all charges, and on the other six the jury deadlocked, leading to a mistrial. The defense argument was that the men were playing along with the FBI agents in order to con for money.

On December 13, 2007, after nine days of deliberations, the jury acquitted Lyglenson Lemorin, who had left the group and moved to Atlanta months before the arrests but were unable to reach a verdict on the other six. The judge declared a mistrial, and the jury for a retrial was scheduled to be picked after 7 January 2008. Lemorin was acquitted of these charges but was deported three years later.

A second trial ended on April 16, 2008, when Lenard declared a mistrial after the second jury reported they were deadlocked after 13 days of deliberations.

A third trial ended on May 12, 2009, when following two weeks of deliberation a jury acquitted Naudimar Herrera, but convicted the five remaining defendants. During the deliberations two of the jurors were replaced. Ringleader Batiste was convicted on all four charges brought against him. Abraham was convicted on three of the four counts against him. Phanor, Augustine, and Augustin were convicted two counts of providing material support for terrorism.

The five were sentenced on November 20, 2009 by Judge Joan Lenard after a three-day sentencing hearing:

• Narseal Batiste: 162 months in prison, followed by 35 years of supervised release;
• Patrick Abraham: 112.5 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release;
• Stanley Grant Phanor: 96 months in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release;
• Burson Augustin: 72 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release; and
• Rothschild Augustine: 84 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.