Remember Jose Pimentel, the "lone wolf" terrorist the NYPD arrested last year after a tip from a questionable informant? The one whose first lawyer said he was entrapped and whose case the FBI absolutely, to the NYPD's embarrassment, wanted nothing to do with? Well, the Manhattan's DA office is reportedly working on a plea deal for the "stoned squirrel" as you read this, despite the fact they haven't actually indicted him yet.
Before you assume this means the case against Pimentel, an al Qaeda sympathizer and Muslim convert caught on tape making what the police say is a pipe bomb, is as flimsy as some reports have argued, we point out that prosecutors are taking great pains to point out that a plea negotiation before an indictment is nothing too out of the ordinary. After all, "Defense lawyers, at the beginning of the case, waived the prosecution’s deadline for reaching an indictment." Which "allowed the two sides to discuss freely how to proceed without having to adhere to strict court deadlines."
And anyway, assistant DA Brian Fields assured a judge yesterday that Pimentel will either have a plea in place or be indicted by March 1, the next time he is due in court. Mark your calendars!
