Accused terrorist's lawyer denies client took photos of NYC landmarks for targets

Defense attorney Marlon Kirton told jurors in closing arguments at a Manhattan federal courthouse that prosecutors had failed to prove their case against his client, Alexei Saab, a former Morristown, New Jersey software engineer accused of scouting New York City landmarks as potential attack targets. "They didn't prove anything," Kirton said, according to NBC New York's coverage of the two-week trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richman argued Saab joined Hezbollah in 1996 and, operating as what prosecutors called a "sleeper cell," came to the United States to identify potential targets for the group's Islamic Jihad Organization from 2000 to 2005 while working as a software engineer, according to NBC New York. Saab was arrested in 2019 after eleven FBI interview sessions and pleaded not guilty; he faced charges carrying potential penalties exceeding 100 years in prison.

The specific landmarks prosecutors alleged Saab photographed for surveillance purposes were not disputed as a list in Kirton's closing argument, according to the available reporting -- the defense's argument centered on whether the government had proven Saab's intent, not on contesting that photographs existed.

The alleged targets

According to NBC New York's account of the prosecution's case, the landmarks prosecutors said Saab researched as potential targets included Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, all three New York-area airports, the Brooklyn, Triborough and George Washington bridges, and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. Prosecutors also alleged that Saab once attempted to kill a suspected Israeli spy by pointing a weapon at close range, though the firearm malfunctioned -- an allegation separate from, but presented alongside, the landmark-surveillance claims.

The defense's framing

Kirton's closing argument, as reported by NBC New York, characterized the prosecution's case as unproven rather than offering an alternative explanation for the photographs themselves. The trial was heard before Judge Paul G. Gardephe in Manhattan federal court, with jury deliberations beginning after closing arguments concluded.

What remains unconfirmed

The verdict of the trial is not established in the source retrieved this session -- NBC New York's report covers the closing-arguments stage only. It is not confirmed from this reporting whether the jury ultimately convicted or acquitted Saab, nor what sentence, if any, followed.

US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by NBC New York. It restores a story originally published on this site in May 2022; figures are as reported at the time.