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All four men pleaded not guilty. In March 2010, defense lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case on grounds of [[entrapment]]. Relying on materials provided by the government (including recordings and FBI agents' affidavits), the defense argued that the plot was proposed and closely directed by the FBI's informant, who "suggested the targets, paid for the defendants' groceries, bought a gun, provided the fake bombs and missile, assembled the explosive devices and acted as chauffeur".<ref name="fitgerald">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031901779.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928043739/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/19/AR2010031901779.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 28, 2011|title=Defense says NY synagogue-bomb plot was feds' idea|last=Fitgerald|first=Jim|date=March 19, 2010|work=The Associated Press |access-date=March 31, 2010}}</ref>
In late August 2010, government informant Shahed Hussain testified, stating that ringleader James Cromitie "hated Jews and Jewish people and he hated the American people, American soldiers. He was full of hate on those subjects. He said he would kill the president 700 times because he's the [[Antichrist]]."<ref>{{cite news |title=Informant takes stand in NY temple plot case |author=Larry Neumeister |agency=Associated Press |date=August 27, 2010 |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hXaournxorG5EDGGyJA9X-K9Y3KwD9HS1D200 |access-date=August 29, 2010}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> After a six-week trial, the four were convicted. The lawyers for the four have filed a motion for a new trial claiming that Hussain committed perjury during the trial. David Williams told the [[Village Voice]] that the four were not part of plot to hurt people but to swindle Hussain, and the incriminating statements were made to make Hussain believe the four were credible terrorists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-03-02/news/were-the-newburgh-4-really-out-to-blow-up-synagogues/|title=Were the Newburgh 4 Really Out to Blow Up Synagogues? A Defendant Finally Speaks Out.|first=Graham|last=Rayman|date=March 2, 2011|publisher=}}</ref>
On June 29, 2011, Cromitie, Onta Williams, and David Williams were each sentenced, for their part in the attempted attack, to 25 years in prison by Manhattan [[Federal Judge]] [[Colleen McMahon]]. The judge criticized not only the defendants, but also what she viewed as the government's overzealous handling of the investigation. Referring to Cromitie, she said, "The essence of what occurred here is that a government, understandably zealous to protect its citizens from terrorism, came upon a man both bigoted and suggestible, one who was incapable of committing an act of terrorism on his own. It created acts of terrorism out of his fantasies of bravado and bigotry, and then made those fantasies come true." She added, "The government did not have to infiltrate and foil some nefarious plot – there was no nefarious plot to foil." She said the defendants were "not political or religious martyrs," but "thugs for hire, pure and simple."
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