Najibullah Zazi, 24, sat silently in the courtroom as assistant U.S. attorney Jeffrey Knox alluded to the charges.
"We are still evaluating evidence," Knox told Judge Raymond Dearie. "My expectation is that we will be seeking a superseding indictment."
Zazi's attorney, J. Michael Dowling, was surprised by the prospect of additional charges and is unsure of what they might be, when they might come or if they it would indict any alleged co-conspirators.
"I don't envision a more serious charge being filed," Dowling told FOX 31. "The charge he's under right now carries a life sentence, so I don't think any subsequent indictment -- it would have to carry a death penalty to be more severe and I certainly don't envision that."
In October, after Zazi's initial court appearance in Brooklyn, Dowling told reporters that the evidence he and the public had already seen -- including surveillance video showing Zazi purchasing the chemical components needed to make homemade explosives -- did not yet amount to a conspiracy.
He echoed, and qualified, that statement Thursday.
"It's true that nothing I've seen thus far amounts to a conspiracy, but that doesn't mean that in the coming weeks and months we won't see evidence substantiating a conspiracy charge," said Dowling.
"Right now, the ball is still in the government's court. They're still going through the evidence and deciding what needs to be classified. When they finish that, which should be in a few weeks, I'll start being able to see the unclassified evidence."
But it will be a few months longer until Dowling is able to begin examining the government's trove of classified evidence -- if he's able to see it at all.
"I suspect the government will ask that it be declared ex parte, which means that it's for one side, that I don't see it," Dowling said. "I will not get a chance to see that until a judge makes a ruling on whether or not it contains information that I'm entitled to, and he won't have to even rule on that until the end of March."
Dearie set Zazi's next hearing for February 16; and prosecutors said that a trial wouldn't start until next fall at the earliest.
"When this started, there was a lot of talk about [Zazi] being the next big terror guy, all the comparisons made to the 9/11 attacks" Dowling said. "At this point, I haven't seen any evidence of that. I think people need to step back and see that this is going to be a long process and to reserve judgment until it's come to the end."
Zazi was arrested in September, first on charges of making false statements to the FBI before being indicted on conspiracy charges weeks later.
According to the indictment, Zazi traveled to a terror training camp in Pakistan to learn how to build explosives. Surveillance video showed him buying acetone products, one of three chemical components of the explosive TATP, at beauty supply stores in Aurora and Denver. And agents found chemical residue inside a motel room where Zazi was allegedly experimenting with the chemicals, according to the indictment.
Days later, just before the anniversary of 9/11, Zazi drove a rental car to New York, where he was twice questioned by police. His name first surfaced publicly days later after the NYPD raided an apartment in Flushing, Queens where he stayed.
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