5 El Rukn Members Convicted
Five members of the notorious El Rukn street gang were found guilty today of conspiring to blow up airplanes and U.S. government buildings as part of a terrorism-for-hire scheme to win $2.5 million from Libya.
The U.S. District Court jury returned the verdict after six days of deliberation following a five-week trial. The five defendants had contended that the El Rukns were a religious organization that planned no violence and met with the Libyans only to raise money for a mosque. Federal authorities said the gang initiated the contact with the Libyans and that none of the terrorist acts discussed in tape-recorded conversations actually took place.
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