South Florida Resident Charged in Synagogue Bomb Plot

James Gonzalo Medina, 40, of Hollywood, Florida, has been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, an explosive device, at a synagogue in Aventura, Florida, on April 29, 2016.

According to the complaint, Medina expressed anti-Semitic views and identified to a confidential human source (CHS) the target of his attack, a Jewish synagogue in Aventura. He allegedly wanted to use an explosive device to commit the attack and engaged the CHS and an undercover FBI employee about the details of his planned criminal conduct.

Medina was under FBI surveillance and was arrested while approaching the synagogue with an inert explosive device. The FBI had rendered the device inoperable, posing no threat to the public. Medina faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Division and the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen E. Gilbert and Marc S. Anton of the Southern District of Florida, and Trial Attorney Taryn Meeks of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John P. Carlin, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

A copy of the complaint and related court documents can be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

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