29% Conviction Rate in Terrorism Prosecutions

October 24, 2007

29% Conviction Rate in Terrorism Prosecutions

There was a time when federal prosecutors would consistently win terrorism prosecutions.

From 1993 to 2001, prosecutors in Manhattan convicted some three dozen terrorists through guilty pleas and in six major trials.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the government's track record has been decidedly spottier, and its failure to obtain a single conviction on Monday in its terrorism-financing prosecution of what was once the nation's largest Islamic charity was another in a series of missteps and setbacks.

Juries convicted 9 defendants, 30 defendants pleaded guilty, and
11 pleaded guilty to other charges. There were eight acquittals and four dismissals.