A former Miami city employee was convicted here this weekend on two counts in the attempted bombing of a synagogue and sentenced to serve three years in prison on each count.
Donald Branch, 26, was convicted in a Dade County court of possessing and transporting explosives. The jury deliberated less than three hours after hearing evidence which included tape recordings of conversations Branch had with Stefan Plumacher, an undercover police agent, which were filled with lewd and vicious anti-Semitic remarks. The tapes were offered in support of Dade County State Attorney Richard Gerstein’s contention that Branch plotted with the undercover Miami policeman the attempted bombing of Anshe Emes Synagogue last April 28.
Branch faces another and more serious charge on July 23 when he faces trial on charges of bombing the home of DonShoemaker, editor of the Miami Herald, last February. Conviction would mean a possible 20 years to life sentence. A number of leading South Florida Jews were allegedly targets of an assassination plot by Branch.
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