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Suspect in Md. terror plot is due in court

Antonio Martinez is accused of plotting to blow up a military recruitment center

By Ben Nuckols
Associated Press

BALTIMORE — A Baltimore man accused of plotting to blow up a military recruitment center will be back in court.

A detention hearing for Antonio Martinez is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday in U.S. District Court.

Martinez is 21 years old and a recent convert to Islam, and court documents describe him as obsessed with jihad. He was arrested last week in a sting operation after he allegedly tried to detonate a phony bomb. He’s charged with attempted murder of federal officers and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Prosecutors are expected to argue that Martinez represents a flight risk and ask that he be detained pending trial. He was born outside the United States, although authorities haven’t said where. Martinez’s mother has said his father is Nicaraguan.

Copyright 2010 Associated Press