New York:
A former airline cargo worker was sentenced in US federal court to life in prison for plotting a terror attack on a New York airport that he hoped would "rival 9/11," prosecutors said.
Authorities said Russell Defreitas, 67, a naturalised US citizen originally from Guyana, and three other conspirators hatched a plot to explode fuel tanks and pipelines under John F Kennedy International Airport.
Defreitas "plotted to commit a terrorist attack that he hoped would rival 9/11," US Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a Justice Department statement.
"But law enforcement detected and thwarted the plot, saving lives. Now, our courts have dispensed justice by handing out the life sentence that Defreitas richly deserves," she added.
Defreitas, after a nine-week trial last year, was convicted of conspiracy to attack a public transportation system and mass transportation facility, aircraft and aircraft materials, and of conspiracy to destroy international airport facilities.
He is the second alleged member of the ring to be sentenced to life behind bars for plotting an attack that the conspirators believed "would cause extensive damage to the airport and to the New York economy, as well as the loss of numerous lives," the Justice Department said.
Former Guyana parliamentarian Abdul Kadir was sentenced to life in prison in December.
Last month the same federal court in Brooklyn, New York sentenced an Islamic militant from Guyana, Abdel Nur, to 15 years in prison for taking part in the plot, after he last year pleaded guilty to providing material support.
Kadir and Defreitas began preparations in 2006 to blow up fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline under the airport, which is located about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from Manhattan, the court said.
Defreitas was found to have initiated the plans, using his experience of airport fuel depots.
He recruited Kadir and others during multiple trips to Guyana and Trinidad, and took video surveillance of JFK airport to show Kadir back in Guyana, according to the Justice Department.
"Kadir, a trained engineer with connections to militant groups in Iran and Venezuela, provided the conspirators with links to individuals with terrorist experience, advice on explosive materials, and a bank account through which to finance the terrorist attack," the Justice Department said in the statement.