Brooklyn, NY – A jeweler, apparently seeking revenge against former business associates, went on trial Friday for falsely reporting that five Arabs were plotting to bomb New York subways on the U.S. Independence Day holiday last year.
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The hoax by Rimon Alkatri, a native of Syria living in Brooklyn, caused “an intensive and widespread investigation” that stretched to the Mideast and involved the men he had named, Assistant District Attorney Barry Ginsberg said.
Alkatri told investigators that the plotters were five Syrians working in the jewelry business, Ginsberg said. The names turned out to be those of five business associates with whom Alkatri had disputes, he said.
Ginsberg told the state Supreme Court jury in opening remarks that Alkatri knew his report of an impending explosion in a mass transit facility resulting from a plot by five men was “false and baseless.”
Alkatri, 35, is charged with falsely reporting an incident in the first-degree, punishable by up to seven years in prison if he is convicted. He also faces deportation to Syria, a move his lawyer says could be fatal since he is Jewish. [ap]
To all people who rush to judgment and convicted this person the guilty plea before even the court started, get the facts straight. Have you considered that this Jewish person was acting on a true and basic belief that five Arabic speaking men were plotting to hurt the city in anyway, and he simply alerted the authorities and did what the law is expecting from every decent citizen of this country. What if he really cared that much to put his life and the life of his wife and children at risk just to prevent another horrific event like a subway explosion. What if it turn out to be a mistake, maybe the real jokers were those Arabs that he overheard over a phone conversation plotting and saying explosives phrases in Arabic that they knew if they were serious, anyone would inform the police. He definitely does not deserve all this commotion and this severe of a punishment, and deporting him to Syria, these people are out of their mind! the city clearly and boldly states that “If you see something, say something” not if you see something, you better shut up or else we’ll lock you up for seven years.
Sleazy scumbag. He definitely deserves the FEAR of being deported.
After his prison sentence is up, he can take Israeli citizenship and be deported to Israel.
hope he will have a good lawyer…go to court in adar
If it is not an option, that should have been carefully considered BEFORE his actions. Now all options are open.
this does not sound like a very clear story and him going back to siryia is not an option