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1 acquitted, 6 to be retried, in alleged terror plot

  • Story Highlights
  • "Liberty City 7" were accused of homegrown plot to blow up buildings
  • One acquitted; six to be retried starting January 7
  • Sources say supposed al Qaeda operative helping group was really informant
  • Men operated out of a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area, authorities say
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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- One of seven men accused of conspiring to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and a federal jury in Miami failed to reach a verdict on six others arrested in the alleged terror plot.

The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that the six whose cases ended in mistrials would be retried starting on January 7.

Lyglenson Lemorin, who also goes by the name Brother Levi, was acquitted in the "Liberty City 7" trial, U.S. District Judge Joan Leonard's office told CNN.

The men were arrested in June 2006 and charged with a homegrown terror plot that officials said may have targeted not only the 110-story Chicago tower -- the tallest building in North America -- but also the FBI's Miami offices and other sites.

At the time, sources told CNN that the suspects were dealing with a man they believed was an al Qaeda operative but who was actually a government informant. Senior federal sources told CNN that the men were "not related to al Qaeda" but "possibly" were al Qaeda wannabes.

Five of the seven men were Americans, one was an illegal alien from Haiti whose visa had expired, and the seventh was a resident alien, federal sources said.

The group's supporters and the news media adopted the "Liberty City 7" name because authorities said the men operated out of a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area.

A man who identified himself as Brother Corey told CNN at the time that five of the men arrested in Miami were his "brothers," members of a group he identified as Seas of David.

Brother Corey said the group had "soldiers in Chicago," but was peaceful and not associated with any terrorist organizations.

The warehouse where the raids took place, he said, "is a place where we worship and also have businesses, as a work site, as a construction company we are trying to build up."

He said Seas of David is a religious group that blends the teachings of Christianity and Islam. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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