RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Four men charged with plotting to kill Americans by aiding terrorists in Afghanistan have pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy count in federal court in Riverside.
A U.S. District judge set an Aug. 6 trial date for the men after they made their first joint appearance in court Wednesday.
Three of the men — Ralph Deleon, Arifeen Gojail and Miguel Santana Vidriales — previously pleaded guilty, but they had to re-enter their pleas when prosecutors added a Southern California man suspected of being the ringleader of the plot to the indictment.
The government accused Sohiel Omar Kabir of Pomona of inviting his co-defendants to visit his native Afghanistan and meet with terrorists. Gojali, Deleon and Santana were arrested the day they were suspected of leaving to meet Kabir in Afghanistan.
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