Defendant in N.Y. Bomb Plot Case Pleads Guilty to a Lesser Charge

One of 15 people charged in a conspiracy to bomb the United Nations and other landmarks pleaded guilty Friday to a lesser charge.

Earl Gant, also known as Abdur Rasheed or Abu Jaleel, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport explosives across state lines knowing they would be used to commit violent or destructive acts.

Gant pleaded guilty to discussing the purchase of explosive powder with another defendant, Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali. The powder was not obtained.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. Gant is to be sentenced June 13.

Indictments said Gant’s role in the alleged conspiracy was limited to the charge to which he pleaded guilty.

“I thought it (the explosives) was to be used for training and acts of violence against persons,” Gant told U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey during the plea hearing.

At a hearing in October when Gant was released on bail, his lawyer had argued that his client became involved with the other defendants in the case because he thought he was being recruited to help fight for Muslims in Bosnia.

Ali and 13 other men remain accused of conspiring to bomb the United Nations, two tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey and to commit other terrorist acts. Their trial is scheduled for September.

Prosecutors said the alleged plot included the Feb. 26, 1993, World Trade Center bombing that killed six people and injured about 1,000 others.