News

November 7, 2007

Reynolds gets 30 years in terror plot

Man with local ties sentenced for his botched effort to help al-Qaida.

JEREMY GRAD jgrad@timesleader.com

A former Wilkes-Barre resident who was found guilty of attempted terrorist activity was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Tuesday.

Michael Curtis Reynolds, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Edwin M. Kosik. Reynolds was found guilty in July on four counts of attempted terrorist activity and of two counts of illegal hand grenade possession.

Reynolds attempted to assist al-Qaida in obtaining weapons and material support over a three-month span in 2005.

“Since Sept. 11, 2001, the first priority of all law enforcement agencies has been to prevent future acts of terror on our homeland,” acting U.S. Attorney Martin C. Carlson said in a prepared statement. “Today’s sentencing constitutes a triumph of the rule of law over those who would use terror against nations.”

Authorities believe Reynolds planned to blow up targets such as the Transcontinental Pipeline, a natural-gas pipeline that runs from the Gulf Coast to New York and New Jersey, as well as the Alaskan pipeline.

Reynolds was arrested on Dec. 5, 2005, when FBI officials surrounded an Idaho rest stop where Reynolds tried to retrieve a bag filled with $40,000 that was promised by someone Reynolds thought was an al-Qaida contact. The contact was part of an FBI sting operation to catch Reynolds.

During the investigation the FBI tracked explosives to a storage locker in Wilkes-Barre.

The Philadelphia division of the FBI and the Justice Department carried out the criminal investigation. Reynolds was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gurganus.

Jeremy Grad, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7210.

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