The ringleader of a group of men convicted of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI offices has been sentenced to 13½ years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard issued the sentence Friday in Miami against Narseal Batiste, 35. Prosecutors had sought the maximum 70-year sentence.

Four other men convicted along with Batiste of terror-related charges in May were sent to prison but got less time than prosecutors had sought.

The men were arrested in 2006 and accused of plotting attacks with a Federal Bureau of Investigation informant posing as an al-Qaeda operative. The conspiracy never progressed beyond talk.

Two other men were acquitted of similar charges

Batiste testified that he played along with plot in hopes of scamming $50,000 US from the informant.