RALEIGH (AP) — A federal judge in North Carolina is hearing why an immigrant from war-torn Kosovo should be released on bond until his trial on charges he tried hiring a hit man to behead witnesses from a federal terrorism trial.
Today’s hearing for Shkumbin Sherifi, 21, comes after the FBI says he plotted to kill the witnesses his older brother’s trial.
Hysen Sherifi was sentenced to 45 years in prison for plotting to attack the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., and targets overseas.
Court records say an FBI informant collected $5,000 and delivered faked photos seeming to show a beheaded corpse confirming the hit.
Prosecutors fear if Shkumbin Sherifi is released on bond he’ll flee to his native Kosovo, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.