Two people accused of planning coordinated New Year’s Eve bombings in Southern California pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges.
Audrey Carroll, 30, of South Los Angeles, and Zachary Aaron Page, 32, of Torrance, were arraigned in Los Angeles federal court on charges of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and possession of unregistered firearms. If convicted as charged in the foiled plot, Carroll and Page could face up to life in federal prison.
A third defendant, 41-year-old Tina Lai of Glendale, pleaded not guilty last week to one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and one count of possession of unregistered firearms.
A fourth suspected member of the group, Dante Gaffield, 24, of South Los Angeles, is set for arraignment Jan. 20.
Trial was tentatively set for Feb. 17.
The suspects were arrested Dec. 12 in the Mojave Desert as they unloaded bomb-making materials from their cars in preparation to construct and test explosives that were to be used in coordinated attacks on targets throughout the region, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. Authorities did not provide details about the businesses.
The bombs were supposed to go off at locations in Southern California on New Year’s Eve, but the terror plot was thwarted, federal investigators said.
In November, Carroll allegedly drafted an eight-page, handwritten document that described a bombing plot targeting U.S. businesses across Southern California on New Year’s Eve.
Federal investigators said they were members of a group called the Turtle Island Liberation Front.