Ahmed Ressam Sentenced To 22 Years

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

Ressam, who plotted to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium, got a lighter sentence than the government's recommendation of 35 years.

Story Published: Jul 27, 2005 at 7:43 AM PDT

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2009 at 12:02 PM PDT

Ahmed Ressam Sentenced To 22 Years
SEATTLE - Ahmed Ressam, who plotted to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium, was sentenced to 22 years in prison Wednesday, and the judge said the successful prosecution should serve not only as a warning to terrorists, but as a rebuke to anyone who would deny basic rights to terrorism suspects.

"We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant or deny the defendant the right to counsel," U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said, sternly criticizing Bush administration policy. "The message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart."

The sentence was significantly lower than the 35 years recommended by prosecutors, but it could have been even shorter had Ressam agreed to testify against two of his alleged co-conspirators. With credit for time served and three years off for good behavior, the 38-year-old Algerian could be out of prison in 14 years. He likely would then be deported or sent to France, where he has been convicted in absentia of terror-related crimes.

Ressam was arrested in Port Angeles, on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, in December 1999 as he drove off a ferry from British Columbia with 124 pounds of bomb-making materials. Ressam had a one-night reservation for a hotel in Seattle, prompting Seattle's mayor to cancel New Year's Eve celebrations at the Space Needle.

After being convicted of terrorist conspiracy and explosives charges at his 2001 trial, Ressam began cooperating in hopes of winning a reduced sentence. He told investigators from several countries about the operation of terrorist camps and disclosed the identities of potential terrorists, the use of safe houses and other details.

He'd quit cooperating by early 2003, after the Justice Department said it would not recommend less than a 27-year sentence.

Ressam's information was given to anti-terrorism field agents around the world - in one case, helping to prevent the mishandling and potential detonation of the shoe bomb that Richard Reid attempted to detonate aboard an American Airlines flight in December 2001.

"It is a flat fact that law enforcement, the public and public safety have benefited in countless ways" from Ressam's cooperation, Hillier said.

Ressam had been scheduled for sentencing in April. After more than two hours of arguments, Coughenour called it off, giving Ressam three more months to resume cooperating.

In April, Ressam's lawyer, Thomas Hillier, recommended a sentence of 12½ years. He changed that recommendation Wednesday to less than 20 years because Ressam had refused the judge's offer. Hillier criticized the government's 35-year suggestion, noting that before the trial, prosecutors offered 25 years in exchange for a guilty plea.

Hillier said years of solitary confinement took their toll on Ressam's mental state and that Ressam believed his cooperation was undervalued. But he said there's no real explanation for Ressam's decision not to testify against Samir Ait Mohamed and Abu Doha, who are awaiting extradition from Canada and Great Britain, respectively.

"I suspect he's searching for that sense of dignity, that sense of some control over his life," Hillier said.

Ressam did not speak in court, but provided a short written statement in which he thanked the judge, renounced violence of any kind and apologized for his actions, Hillier said.

U.S. prosecutors insist that without Ressam's help they will have to drop charges against Mohamed and Doha, who has been described as a terrorist recruiter. U.S. Attorney John McKay said that aside from immigration violations, he did not know what charges officials in Europe or Canada might pursue against them.

"It means that two other individuals who we believe to be dangerous will not be prosecuted in this country," he said.

McKay said he agreed with the judge's comments that U.S. courts are equipped to handle terrorism cases. He would not comment on the judge's criticism of military tribunals and the handling of enemy combatants.

On the hearing, Coughenour unexpectedly called Andy Hamilton, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Ressam at trial, from the courtroom gallery to give a sentencing recommendation.

After noting that Ressam's sentence would be "perhaps the most important sentence this court has ever had," Hamilton told the judge that Ressam's reluctance to cooperate should weigh heavily.

"You can't be a cooperator and a terrorist," he said. "When he stopped cooperating, he went back to being what he was."

After sentencing, Hillier said Ressam was relieved to have the case finished and showed little reaction to his prison term.

"The man is ready for anything. He takes the news better than I do," the attorney said.