Egyptian lawyer gets 25 years in fatal US Embassy bombings after 'enormously generous' plea bargain
An Egyptian lawyer was sentenced Friday to 25 years in federal prison for his role in fatal 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people.
Calling the plea bargain that capped the sentence for Adel Abdul Bary at 25 years “enormously generous,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan noted that the 54-year-old defendant could be out of prison in about eight years, since he has been behind bars since 1999, reports the Associated Press.
Bary originally faced a potential life term if he was convicted at trial in the Manhattan terrorism case. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2012 from the United Kingdom where he had been held since 1999. Bary is not accused of directly participating in the bombings, since he was in London at the time they occurred. However, he admitted that he transmitted claims of accountability and subsequent terrorist threats, the article explains.
“This was as serious a crime against American citizens as I can imagine,” said Kaplan. A dozen of those killed at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania reportedly were Americans.
Although the plea bargain says Bary can serve the rest of his sentence in another country, the judge said it should be served in the U.S.
The Guardian and Reuters also have stories.
Related coverage:
New York Times (reg. req.): “Third Trial in 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings in Africa Begins”
