Alleged Bronx terror plotter not as dimwitted as he pretends, says prosecutor

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Alleged Bronx terror plotter not as dimwitted as he pretends, says prosecutor as 4 appear in court
BY Matthew Lysiak AND Thomas Zambito
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Read more: "Alleged Bronx terror plotter not as dimwitted as he pretends, says prosecutor as 4 appear in court"

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A federal prosecutor today mocked one of the suspects in the May plot to blow up a Bronx synagogue when the ex-con suggested Wednesday he was mentally unfit to stand trial.

"I don't understand the stuff the court talks about," defendant Laguerre Payen said during a hearing in White Plains Federal Court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder told Magistrate Judge Paul Davison that Payen was putting on a crazy act.

"On April 28th, he is on a very clear recording talking about beating the case in a very sophisticated way," Snyder told Davison. "It's very different from the way he's talking now in an effort to mislead the court."

Before Davison entered the courtroom, Payen had to leave when his baggy pants fell down.

Payen and his three alleged co-conspirators - James Cromitie, David Williams and Onta Williams - pleaded not guilty to an eight-count federal indictment handed up Tuesday that accuses them of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction. If guilty, they each could face life in prison.

Payen appeared confused when Davison asked him for his name and age.

"My client has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder," said his attorney, Marilyn Reader. "It's not clear at all that he understands ... He can't read."

Reader said Payen has been under the care of mental health professionals.

The four jailhouse converts to Islam are accused of scheming to blow up the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Community Center on May 20. Prosecutors say they also wanted to shoot down military planes flying over the Air National Guard Base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh.