Jan 22, 2008 5:59 pm US/Eastern
Padilla Sentenced To 17 Years Plus In Prison
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
One time accused "dirty bomber" and convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla has been sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison.
Padilla, who was once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive bomb in a major city, was sentenced Tuesday in Miami for his conviction in August, 2007, on conspiracy and terrorism material support charges.
Cooke sentenced co-defendant 45-year-old Adham Amin Hassoun to 15 years and eight months in prison and the third defendant, 46-year-old Kifah Wael Jayyousi, to 12 years and eight months.
Padilla's mother, Estela Ortega-Lebron, urged the judge to show mercy for her son, saying, ''He is not a monster; he's a human being.''
During their sentencing hearing, prosecutors asked federal Judge Marcia Cooke to sentence all three men to life in prison without parole. Defense lawyers argued for lesser sentences on several grounds, including claims that the three had only minor roles in a global conspiracy.
During Tuesday's sentencing, Cooke said that as serious as the conspiracy was, there was no evidence linking the men to specific acts of terrorism anywhere.
"There is no evidence that these defendants personally maimed,
kidnapped or killed anyone in the United States or elsewhere," Cooke said.
Sentencing guidelines had recommended 30 years to life for Padilla and life for Hassoun and Jayyousi because of their leadership roles, but the judge was not bound by those recommendations.
Padilla, a U.S. citizen, was held for 3 1/2 years without criminal charge after his May 2002 arrest at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Authorities said at the time he was on an Al Qaeda mission to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" inside the U.S.
Those charges were later dropped and Padilla, allegedly recruited by Hassoun for Al Qaeda while living in South Florida, was added in late 2005 to a Miami terrorism support case just as challenges to his detention were headed to the U.S Supreme Court.
During the trial, a critical piece of evidence was a form Padilla filled out in 2000 for an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Prosecutors maintained that Padilla was the "star recruit" of the support cell, Hassoun the main recruiter and Jayyousi the financier.
"During an eight-year conspiracy, these men aided mujahedeen fighters and organizations aligned with terrorists, claimed membership in terrorist groups, communicated with convicted terrorists, and attended terrorist training camps," prosecutor John Shipley said in court papers.
The three were "fully prepared to kill any 'infidels' in their path," he added.
Defense lawyers say the men were peace-loving Muslims who were only interested in helping other Muslims overseas suffering from oppression and persecution. Padilla, they say, went abroad not to become a terrorist but to study Islam and Arabic in hopes of becoming an imam.
Padilla also claimed he deserves leniency because government agents "intentionally inflicted psychological pain and suffering" during his long, isolated incarceration as an enemy combatant at a Navy brig in South Carolina.
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