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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tonto who wrote (64628)	7/27/2005 1:42:20 PM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Clinton Era Arrest Led to 9-11 Warning Bush Ignored 'Millennium bomber' Ressam gets 22 years in prison 26 minutes ago SEATTLE (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber" convicted of plotting to blow up Los Angeles' airport, to 22 years in prison for conspiracy to commit an international terrorist act, explosives smuggling and other criminal counts. U.S. Western District Judge John Coughenour had been expected to sentence Ressam, who stopped cooperating with federal authorities in 2003, to 35 years behind bars. Prosecutors say his failure to work with them further jeopardized cases they were building against other terror suspects. Ressam, who will get credit for the more than five years he already has spent in jail, did not speak at the hearing but offered a slight smile as he shook hands with his attorneys and interpreter after the sentencing. "This period of confinement recognizes the seriousness of the crimes and the cooperation of Mr. Ressam," Coughenour said in sentencing Ressam, adding that he hoped the decision would reflect the fairness and transparency of the U.S. justice system. Ressam's earlier deal with prosecutors would have resulted in a 27-year sentence in exchange for his testimony and information about other cases. The 38-year-old Algerian was caught on the U.S.-Canada border in December 1999 with nitroglycerin in the trunk of his rented car, and he told authorities he planned to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the new millennium. Ressam's lawyers had asked for leniency and a shorter sentence of 12 1/2 years, but they admitted in a court filing on Tuesday that Ressam had decided not to cooperate even after a three-month delay of his sentencing. "After much thought, he has decided against cooperating further," Thomas Hillier, the public defense lawyer representing Ressam, wrote in a memo to the court. Prosecutors said Ressam's failure to cooperate further jeopardized their case against Rachid Boukhalfa, known as Abou Doha, a radical Muslim imam awaiting extradition from Britain to stand trial for allegedly masterminding the plot to blow up the Los Angeles airport. They say if he does not cooperate, the government will have to dismiss the case against Abu Doha and a case against alleged co-conspirator Samir Ait Mohamed, and withdraw corresponding extradition requests sent to Britain and Canada. Ressam was convicted in 2001. He initially provided testimony that was used in the briefing paper "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in the U.S.," which was given to President Bush on Aug. 6, 2001, ahead of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Ressam's sentencing for his conviction on nine counts, including conspiracy to commit an international terrorist act and explosives smuggling, comes amid heightened security in the United States after the bombings in London's transit system earlier this month.