NEW BERN, N.C. — As Daniel Patrick Boyd pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges on Wednesday, uncertainty swept over family and friends of seven other men who are accused of being his co-conspirators.
Boyd, 40, surprised the families of the others accused by accepting a plea arrangement in which he admitted to two of 11 counts in a local terrorism case that garnered international attention.
Boyd, a Triangle resident since the mid-1990s, was accused of being the ringleader of a group of young men seeking to wage war against non-Muslims abroad. Six others, including Boyd's two oldest sons, were arrested in late July 2009.
Donning a red-and-white prison jumpsuit, arms shackled, Boyd entered the grand, wood-paneled courtroom in the federal courthouse. He was clean-shaven with much shorter hair than the long, scraggly pony-tail he had when he was arrested.
He became emotional and tearful before entering his pleas, but Boyd's responses to Judge Louise Flanagan were concise, polite and unwavering.
After a federal prosecutor laid out some of the evidence in the case, Boyd admitted to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people in a foreign country.
He is scheduled for sentencing in May. At that time, prosecutors said, the nine other charges filed against him in the case could be dismissed.
His wife, daughter and youngest son sat two rows behind him in the gallery. Sabrina Boyd, his spouse of several decades, wiped tears from her cheeks.
It was unclear Wednesday how Boyd's pleas would affect the cases of his alleged co-conspirators. The details of his plea arrangement were not disclosed publicly, and no one from Boyd's family or legal team would discuss the case.
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