MIAMI -- Jurors began deliberations Friday in the second trial of six men accused of plotting terrorist attacks against Chicago's Sears Tower and FBI offices after a prosecutor urged the jury not to buy defense claims it was all a con for money.

Alleged ringleader Narseal Batiste testified that he faked interest in terrorism in an attempt to scam $50,000 out of a man he thought had been sent from al-Qaida. That man, known as Brother Mohammed to Batiste's group, was actually an FBI informant.

"That's just silliness," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Arango said in a final closing statement. "You would have to believe that these defendants thought they could rip off the deadliest terrorist organization in the world. Do you think al-Qaida would be OK with that?"

Batiste, 34, and the other suspects each face up to 70 years in prison if convicted of four terrorism-related conspiracy charges, including plotting to wage war against the U.S. Prosecutors said the so-called "Liberty City Seven" wanted to use the terror attacks to ignite an insurrection against the U.S. government.

The 12-person jury, whose names are secret, got the case after nearly two months of testimony and closing arguments. The first trial in the case ended in December with a hung jury for these six defendants and the acquittal of a seventh.

The jury in the second case deliberated about four hours Friday before quitting and will return Monday to resume. The jury in the first case tried in vain to reach verdicts for nine days.

Intent is the key to the case because there is no evidence the men ever acquired any explosives or took any viable steps toward making the alleged plots a reality. Defense lawyers said the months of discussions about terrorism were orchestrated by the FBI and their two paid informants, unfairly entrapping the suspects.

Attorney Albert Levin, who represents defendant Patrick Abraham, told jurors that the Bush administration and FBI are desperate to get convictions to show their strategy of preventing terrorism at the earliest stages is working.

"This is an administration that made the war on terrorism priority number one. They want this case real bad," Levin said, pointing to the defendants. "These guys? Go find Osama bin Laden, please."

Arango, however, said jurors using "common sense" will see Batiste and the others were dead serious about becoming terrorists by recalling some of the hundreds of FBI audio and video recordings of the men before their arrests in June 2006. Those include a March 2006 ceremony led by the informant in which the men pledged loyalty to al-Qaida.

"This case is not about politics. It's about these defendants' own words. The tapes don't lie," Arango said.