Pennsylvania man charged in al Qaeda plot attempt

NEW YORK, Oct 4 (Reuters) A Pennsylvania man, arrested in an FBI sting operation, was accused by a federal grand jury of trying to conspire with al Qaeda to destroy major US oil and gas pipelines and disrupt the economy.

Michael Curtis Reynolds, 47, could face up to 80 years in prison and fines totaling 1.5 million dollars if found guilty, according to the indictment filed on Tuesday in the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Defense lawyer Joseph O'Brien, who is defending Reynolds, had no comment.

The FBI arrested Reynolds in a sting in December 2005 when he was traveling to Idaho in an attempt to collect 40,000 dollars he believed was payment for helping to blow up sections of the Transcontinental Pipeline, the indictment alleges.

The pipeline carries natural gas from the US Gulf Coast to New York City via Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The prosecution said Reynolds began communicating with what he believed were al Qaeda operatives through a Web-based chat group in October 2005. His contact in the forum however, was not a member of al Qaeda, and he then began cooperating with the authorities in their investigation of Reynolds.

The alleged plot included a plan to detonate propane trucks along the Alaska Pipeline and to blow up oil refineries in New Jersey and Wyoming.

REUTERS DKA KN2318