A federal grand jury indicted a man on charges of offering to help al-Qaida blow up fuel facilities in at least three states. Michael Curtis Reynolds was charged in U.S. District Court in Scranton Tuesday with two counts of providing material support for a terrorist organization and two counts of seeking to take part in the destruction of property used in interstate or foreign commerce.
He was already awaiting trial in the case on two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm or an explosive device. The FBI arrested Reynolds in December after authorities said he tried to meet a purported al-Qaida contact in a sting operation about 25 miles from a motel in Pocatello, Idaho, where he had been staying. Authorities said he expected to receive $40,000 to finance an alleged plot to blow up pipelines and refineries. The man Reynolds met with was a Montana judge who was working for the FBI. Reynolds wanted to help al-Qaida units attack fuel facilities "to reduce energy reserves, create environmental hazards, increase anxiety, and require substantial expenditure of funds and government personnel, including the military, to protect those locations," the indictment alleges. Reynolds has been held without bail in the Lackawanna County jail since his arrest on charges of illegally possessing hand grenades. |