SEATTLE – A man who plotted to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium was sentenced Wednesday to 22 years in prison, a penalty that reflected some of his cooperation in telling international investigators about the workings of terror camps in Afghanistan. Still, Ahmed Ressam, 38, could have received a shorter sentence had he not stopped talking to investigators in early 2003. Prosecutors argued that his recalcitrance has jeopardized cases against two of his co-conspirators.
Ressam, 38, was arrested in Port Angeles in December 1999 as he drove off a ferry from British Columbia with a trunk full of bomb-making materials. After being convicted of terrorist conspiracy and explosives charges at his 2001 trial, Ressam began cooperating in hopes of winning a reduced sentence. Ressam told investigators from several countries about the operation of terror camps, but quit cooperating by early 2003. His lawyers said years of solitary confinement took their toll on his mental state, but prosecutors insisted he simply didn't feel like cooperating any more. Prosecutors recommended a 35-year sentence; Ressam's lawyers asked for 12œ years.
Ressam had been scheduled for sentencing in April. After more than two hours of arguments, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour called it off, giving Ressam three more months to resume cooperation. Coughenour and federal prosecutors want Ressam to testify against his two co-conspirators, Samir Ait Mohamed and Abu Doha, who are awaiting extradition from Canada and Britain, respectively. |