US judge sentences Guyanese man to 15 years for role in plot to blow up JFK fuel tanks

A judge in New York has ordered Guyanese Abdel Nur to be jailed for 15 years for his part in a failed plot to blow up fuel tanks and cause massive disruption at the John F. Kennedy International Airport.

It's the harshest possible sentence for Nur, who is suffering from cancer and is likely to die in prison.

District Judge Dora Irizarry described Nur, 61, "a dangerous person", seven months after he admitted that he provided support to terrorists.

“This plot was intended to cause great economic harm to the United States and to cause death and serious physical injury to countless people,” the judge said as she delivered her judgment.

Nur’s lawyer, Daniel Nobel, pleaded for a shorter sentence due to his client's failing health. She advised the lawyer to make an application for Nur’s release from prison if it is determined that his death from illness is imminent.

Nur is one of four Caribbean men charged in connection with the plot conceived by Guyana-born US citizen Russell Defreitas in January 2006.

Defreitas, a former cargo handler at JFK International Airport, and former Guyanese legislator Abdul Kadir, were found guilty last August. Nur had pleaded guilty and did not face trial.

Kadir was sentenced to life in prison; Defreitas is scheduled to be sentenced on February 17. A fourth defendant, Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, will have a separate trial in April, granted because of a medical condition.