Judge Orders Release of Last 'Newburgh Four' Defendant, Criticizes FBI's Role in Case

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon grants James Cromitie compassionate release, stating the FBI relied on an 'unsavory' informant to invent a conspiracy.

• James Cromitie, a man convicted in a post-9/11 terrorism sting, has been ordered to be released from prison by U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon.
• Judge McMahon criticized the FBI for relying on an 'unsavory' confidential informant, Shaheed Hussain, to invent a conspiracy to blow up New York synagogues and shoot down National Guard planes.
• Cromitie, along with his three co-defendants known as the Newburgh Four, were convicted of terrorism charges in 2010. They have all now been granted compassionate release.
• The judge's scathing ruling stated that the FBI invented the conspiracy and identified the targets, arguing that Cromitie and his co-defendants could not have devised such a plot on their own.
• Shaheed Hussain, the informant, has been criticized for years by civil liberties groups. He also worked with the FBI on a sting that targeted an Albany, New York pizza shop owner and an imam, both of whom were convicted of money laundering and conspiring to aid a terrorist group.

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