Pleads Guilty In Plot To Attack Islamic Center

[chadtm80]

Florida Podiatrist Pleads Guilty In Plot To Attack Islamic Center

POSTED: 5:12 p.m. EST April 3, 2003

TAMPA, Fla. -- A podiatrist admitted in federal court Thursday that he planned to bomb a St. Petersburg Islamic center to avenge the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Robert Jay Goldstein pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights, attempt to damage religious property and possession of firearms not registered to him.

If the judge accepts the plea arrangement, Goldstein faces between 121/2 and 15 years in prison when sentenced later.


Goldstein's attorney, Myles H. Malman, said Goldstein suffers from severe mental illness and part of the agreement involves him being sent to a federal institution where he can get treatment.

"This plea will help Dr. Goldstein put behind him an extremely tumultuous, troubling and stressful time in his life," said Malman.

He entered his plea about five weeks after his estranged wife, Kristi, pleaded guilty to illegally possessing five unlicensed bombs and agreed to testify against him. A friend, dentist Michael Hardee, had also pleaded guilty earlier to being the attack's would-be getaway driver and was cooperating with investigators.

Goldstein was arrested last August after Pinellas County sheriff's deputies, responding to a domestic violence report, found an arsenal along in his Seminole town house. They also found a detailed plan that called for planting homemade bombs and using powerful automatic weapons to destroy the Islamic Society of Pinellas County's mosque and cultural center.

They removed more than 30 explosive devices from the house, including light-armor rockets, hand grenades and a 5-gallon gasoline bomb, timer and a wire attached. Besides unlicensed weapons, they also found up to 40 licensed weapons, including .50-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles. Goldstein also had a typed list of 50 Muslim worship centers in the Tampa Bay area.

Malman had maintained that the plot was a fantasy, something akin to "Dungeons and Dragons."

But federal authorities and local Muslim leaders believe that Goldstein -- mentally ill or not -- would have carried out the attack had the plot not been uncovered.

Hardee told federal agents that Robert and Kristi Goldstein shared a love of shooting, building bombs and watching them blow up. They often made explosives together in their kitchen, and Kristi heard her husband talk repeatedly about blowing up the Muslim center, Hardee said.

Hardee also said that besides seeking revenge for the Sept. 11 attacks, Goldstein -- who is Jewish -- wanted to make a statement for "his people."
Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

[JQ Public]

good...biggots should man up and admit to their actions.

[bfez1]

He's a jerk-----heard about him last night on Fox news.
He sure put his "foot" in his mouth.

[Rainband]

He doesn't represent the values of a REAL American citizen. I was mad after September 11th but never though about killing my fellow Americans..no matter what race they are.. He is a FOOL!!

Johnathan