Jan 15, 2008 7:24 pm US/Eastern
Judge Denies Leniency Motions In Padilla Case
Prosecutors Are Seeking Life In Prison
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A federal judge in Miami has refused to eliminate a possible life in prison sentence for Jose Padilla and two other men.
Padilla, 37, Adham Amin Hassoun, 45, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 46 were convicted in August, 2007 on conspiracy and terrorism material support charges.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence all three men to life in prison without parole. Defense lawyers have argued for lesser sentences on several grounds, including claims that the three had only minor roles in a global conspiracy.
Tuesday, Judge Marcia Cooke rejected the defense motions ruling that the charges of which they were convicted were enough to apply enhanced terrorism penalties.
Sentencing guidelines recommend 30 years to life for Padilla and life for Hassoun and Jayyousi because of their leadership roles. Judge Marcia Cooke however is not bound by the 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 claims 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.
Padilla's lawyers have argued that he deserves no more than a 10-year sentence. Hassoun is asking Judge Cooke to impose a term of between four and six years, and Jayyousi says he deserves only probation and, at most, no more than 21 months behind bars.
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