FBI: Entrapment likely issue in Chicago bomb plot

CHICAGO – As prosecutors take up the challenge of trying to convict a man arrested in an alleged bomb plot in Chicago, they may have to show the suspect wasn't egged on by an informant or undercover FBI agents into a crime he didn't initially intend to commit.

Sami Samir Hassoun, 22, was arrested Sunday after he placed a backpack authorities say he thought contained a bomb near Chicago's Wrigley Field. The fake but ominous-looking device — a paint can fitted with blasting caps and a timer — was given to him by an FBI undercover agent.

Hassoun's attorney, Myron Auerbach, said Tuesday he needed to study the case further before deciding on a defense strategy. But he left open the possibility of citing entrapment.

"My client didn't bring anything of his own making to the incident. Things were given to him," he said.

Former federal prosecutor Eric Sussman said the issue of entrapment is often broached in such cases.

"You have to show the suspect is someone predisposed to committing the crime rather than the informant being the instigator," Sussman said.

Hassoun, a Lebanese citizen who has lived in Chicago for about three years, was charged Monday with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and of an explosive device. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday afternoon for a detention hearing.

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