JDL Leader Earl Krugel Sentenced to 20 Years for 2001 Terrorist Plot

A member of the Jewish Defense League was sentenced today to 20 years for his role in a plot to blow up a Los Angeles-area mosque, the office of an Arab-American congressman, and the office of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC).

Earl Krugel and the militant group's leader, Irv Rubin, were charged in December 2001 with conspiring in the bomb plot. Rubin died a year later from injuries suffered in what authorities said was a jailhouse suicide attempt.

Under his 2003 plea bargain, Krugel admitted conspiracy to violate the civil rights of worshippers at the King Fahd Mosque and also a weapons count tied to explosives that prosecutors said were meant for the field office of Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA).

Krugel admitted in his plea agreement that he met with a teenage JDL recruit and showed him a list of mosques that were potential targets. He alleged that Rubin, who was present at the meetings, told the recruit to carry out the bombings. Krugel admitted he and Rubin targeted Issa because he is an Arab American. He also acknowledged calling mosques "filthy" and saying Arabs needed a "wake-up call."

The JDL has been responsible for at least 40 terrorist acts in the United States since its inception in 1968, according to the FBI. Law enforcement officials also said the original target of the foiled plot was MPAC'S LosAngeles office, but it was changed in the days before the planned attack.