Toledo terrorist suspects in context....

If you have read the indictment of the three Toledo area residents who were arrested last week in terrorist related charges, then read the above linked Washington Post article? You will probably make some interesting comparisons and disctinctions. Some information from the Post article:

Two key members of a "Virginia jihad network," which was described by prosecutors as one of the most serious terrorism cases since Sept. 11, 2001, will be freed from prison within weeks after a judge drastically reduced their sentences yesterday.

Eleven men, all but one from the Washington suburbs, were originally charged in 2003 with preparing for jihad by playing paintball and firing weapons in Virginia and at terrorist camps overseas. Nine were convicted. Prosecutors have not alleged that the group was planning domestic attacks, but some of the men admitted they were preparing to fight U.S. troops.

Juliette Kayyem, a terrorism expert at Harvard University, said it is rare for defendants in major terrorism cases to be freed, in great part because of the government's intervention. "This is yet another example of where the government's public portrayal of a case ends up being much more complicated than advertised," she said.

Part of the reason these men and another one had their sentences reduced was because they cooperated with the government in other cases. I'm not sure how much information the three Toledo area men have as to other cases or what kind of cooperation they will give or even have knowledge of when their case comes to trial. Yet, when you read the indictment the three men from this area seem to have done alot less than this group was convicted of.