A 2009 FBI sting operation in New York raised lasting questions about entrapment when four low-income men were convicted on charges based on an informant-fabricated plot.
Key Facts
- Arrests made
- 4 men arrested on May 20, 2009
- FBI informant payment
- Nearly $100,000 paid to Shahed Hussain USD
- Appeal ruling date
- August 23, 2013, convictions upheld 2–1
- Compassionate releases
- 3 defendants released July 2023; Cromitie January 2024
- Alleged targets
- Two Bronx synagogues and an Air National Guard base
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Shahed Hussain, a Pakistani national facing deportation for defrauding the New York State DMV, was recruited by the FBI as a paid informant. He approached financially struggling men in Newburgh, offering money, luxury goods, and favors to draw them into a fabricated terrorism scheme, raising subsequent debate about the bureau's tactics.
On May 20, 2009, FBI agents arrested four men allegedly planning to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx's Riverdale neighborhood and shoot down military aircraft at a New York Air National Guard base. The weapons and the plot itself had been entirely provided and orchestrated by the FBI informant, with no independent terrorist network involved.
All four defendants were convicted, but the case became a prominent example of entrapment controversy. A 2013 appeal was denied by a split federal panel. A dissenting judge noted thin evidence of prior intent. By 2024, Judge Colleen McMahon had ordered compassionate release for all four, citing their dependent roles in a government-manufactured scheme.