NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Three individuals on Wednesday were sentenced to 25 years in prison each for plotting attacks on New York synagogues and U.S. military airplanes.

James Cromitie, 45, David Williams, 30, and Onta Williams, 35, were convicted on October 2010 after a two-month trial for planning to bomb synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York.

In addition, the three men conspired to use Stinger surface-to-air guided missiles to shoot down military planes located at the New York Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh.

"The defendants agreed to target synagogues and military planes using what they thought were real bombs and missiles," said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "These were extremely serious crimes that targeted New York and its citizens."

In June 2008, an informant working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was approached by Cromitie in Newburgh. The defendant told him that his parents lived in Afghanistan and said he was upset about the U.S.-led military operation there. He added his desire to die a martyr and doing "something to America."

Cromitie later told him he desired to do jihad for Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. In further meetings with the informant, the three defendants and a fourth co-conspirator, Laguerre Payen, discussed possible New York targets, including Bronx synagogues and military aircraft.

Later on, Cromitie asked the informant to supply surface-to-air guided missiles and explosives for the planned operations. The FBI source said he would be able to provide them with C-4 plastic explosives while the four co-conspirators conducted surveillance on their targets.

The four co-defendants drove to Stamford, Connecticut, to obtain what they believed would be a surface-to-air guided missile system and three improvised explosive devices containing C-4 explosives.

However, the informant provided the defendants with a Stinger surface-to-air guided missile provided by the FBI that was not capable of being fired as well as over 30 pounds of inert C-4 plastic explosives.

on May 20, 2009, law enforcement officers arrested the four men after they met to inspect the equipment and discuss the logistics of the operation. Payen was also convicted in the October trial but he will be sentenced at a later date.

The three defendants were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction within the U.S., three counts of attempting to use weapons of mass destruction within the U.S., one count of conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, one count of attempting to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, and one count of conspiracy to kill officers and employees of the United States.

Cromitie and David Williams were also found guilty of one count of attempting to kill officers and employees of the U.S. In addition to the prison terms, they were each sentenced to five years of supervised release and to pay special assessments between $700 and $800.

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