3 Southland Men Plead Not Guilty In Alleged Terror Plot
RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — Three local men indicted for allegedly plotting to kill U.S. soldiers overseas pleaded not guilty Wednesday.
Ralph Deleon, of Ontario; Miguel Alejandro Santana Vidriales, of Upland; and Arifeen David Gojali, of Riverside, are accused of providing material support to terrorists, which can carry a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
The indictment alleges they were working with a ringleader, 34-year-old American Sohiel Omar Kabir, of Pomona, on plans that included killing Americans and bombing U.S. military bases overseas.
FBI agents arrested Deleon, Vidriales and Gojali in the United States just two days before they were going to board a plane bound for Istanbul — and then onto Afghanistan.
Kabir, who was arrested in Afghanistan, returned to the United States and was in court Tuesday.
Defense attorneys are waiting to get all the evidence against their clients.
"In the normal course there will be requests and hopefully they will be provided of all of the work that this confidential source had done and they've indicated that 4 ½ years of work," Deleon's attorney, Randy Driggs, said.
A jury trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 22, 2013.
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