25 years for planned bombing

Man who plotted attack on Florida synagogue to go to medical facility

MIAMI — A Hollywood man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up an Aventura synagogue suffers from such acute psychosis due to a cyst in his brain that he will be placed in a U.S. prison’s medical facility while serving at least 25 years, a federal judge in Miami ruled Tuesday.

James Gonzalo Medina, 41, who was arrested last year on a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center, will be treated and then likely placed in a general prison population, Judge Robert Scola said.

“This is a very, very serious offense,” Scola said, noting that without the FBI’s “intervention,” many Jewish people at the synagogue could have died.

The actual bomb — sold to Medina in Hallandale Beach by an FBI undercover operative just before the planned terror attack — was a dummy, authorities said.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Medina, who has a previous criminal history, urged the judge to place him in a U.S. prison’s medical facility so neurological experts can evaluate and treat his brain condition. Medina told Scola, “I need help, your honor.”

Medina said he became a Muslim, and lost his wife and children before he carried out the bomb plot.

During an earlier plea hearing in Miami, Medina seemed reluctant to accept responsibility for the planned synagogue attack, suggesting he was “manipulated” by a federal confidential informant and an FBI undercover employee. But when questioned by Scola, Medina admitted he was guilty of plotting the bombing with the goal of giving credit to the Islamic State group.