Three men convicted of plotting to blow up New York synagogues and to fire heat-seeking missiles at U.S. military planes were sentenced to 25 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon in Manhattan handed down punishments today against James Cromitie, 45, Onta Williams, 35, and David Williams, 30, who were found guilty in October of crimes including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. A fourth defendant, Laguerre Payen, had his sentencing postponed pending a psychiatric evaluation.

The judge said Cromitie and his co-defendants were “willing to kill and maim and destroy for money” and that any affiliation they had with a cause or a need to send a political message was “minor” compared with their desire for money.

“You were not political or religious martyrs,” McMahon said. “You were thugs for hire, pure and simple. I am nonetheless convinced a sentence of 25 years, a quarter of a century behind bars, is sufficient to punish you for both what happened and for what didn’t happen.”

The men were accused of planning to bomb the Riverdale Temple, a Reform synagogue in the Bronx section of New York, and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, an Orthodox synagogue, in May 2009. They also sought heat-seeking missiles to fire at aircraft at the Stewart Air National Guard base in Newburgh, New York, the U.S. said.

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