9/11 FEAR OR LEGIT TERRORISTS? 
The Second Circuit has upheld the convictions of two Albany-area Muslim immigrants who were found guilty of aiding a fictitious terror plot. The Albany Times Union has the story. Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain were arrested after a being caught in a government sting operations that pretended to launder money from the sale of a shoulder-fired missile to assist a terrorist group. “I can honestly say I strongly and respectfully disagree with the decision,” said Aref’s attorney, Terence Kindlon. The Second Circuit simultaneously dismissed an appeal by the New York Civil Liberties Union that alleged 9/11 fears and a dubious government informant had delegitimized the sting.

NO AZERBAIJANI OIL PLOT
Southern District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin has signed an order dismissing all charges against David B. Pinkerton, a former executive at AIG Global Investment. Federal prosecutors had alleged that in 2005 he tried to bribe Azerbaijan officials over the privatization of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic. The New York Times has the story. In requesting a dismissal, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Abernethy wrote that the government had concluded “that further prosecution of David Pinkerton in this case would not be in the interest of justice.”

DO NOT GO DIRECTLY DO JAIL
The Associate Press reports on today’s Manhattan Federal Court appearance by Samuel Israel III, the former hedge fund manager convicted of defrauding investors of $450 million who surrendered in Massachusetts recently after faking his own suicide on the day he was scheduled to report to federal prison. A Massachusetts judge, Michael Ponsor, denied Israel’s request to be shipped immediately to the federal medical prison in Massachusetts where he is supposed to be serving his 20-year sentence. First, he will face an additional charge of failing to surrender to serve a federal sentence, which could earn him another 10 years in prison.

HELMSELY'S MILLIONS 
Manhattan Surrogate’s Court Judge Renee R. Roth will play a role in determining what becomes of Leona Helmsely’s billions, The New York Times reports. Although it was recently revealed that Helmsely left the majority of a $5-to-8 billion trust to the care of dogs, Roth, who will oversee the matter, has already parceled out a Helmsley trust fund in a manner different from the real estate magnate’s will, and dished out a combined $6 million to two grandchildren who were explicitly left out of the will.