Accused al-Qaida Agent Pleads Guilty, May Not Have to Serve Much Time
Ali al-Marri, an accused al-Qaida sleeper agent and legal United States resident who was held more than five years in an American military brig without charges as an alleged “enemy combatant,” has pleaded guilty in federal court in Illinois.
His plea today to one count of conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization concerns support for two architects of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, reports the Chicago Tribune in a breaking news story.
Even after his guilty plea in the Central District of Illinois in Peoria, however, al-Marri may not have to serve much time, according to his legal counsel.
Although he could be sentenced to as much as 15 years, his lawyers hope the former Illinois graduate student will get credit for the nearly six years he spent in a U.S. Navy brig in South Carolina, the newspaper reports.
Plus, it appears they may argue for a further reduction based on the “torture-like conditions” al-Marri experienced in the brig, according to attorney Lawrence Lustberg, who is one of Al-Marri’s lawyers.
The potential 15-year sentence cuts in half the maximum 30-year term al-Marri could have received if he had been convicted of the two original charges he faced. They included not only conspiracy but provision of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, according to a Washington Post article published before the al-Marri’s plea.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Enemy Combatant’s Coercion Claims Likely to be Aired in Civilian Trial”
Journal Star (March 2009): “Al-Marri pleads not guilty to terror charges”
