Padilla Gets 17 Years
Charles Johnson
Tue Jan 22, 2008 at 9:25 am PST • Views: 274
Al Qaeda terrorist Jose Padilla has been sentenced today to 17 years in prison, and the Associated Press release drips with skepticism.
MIAMI - Convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a major city, was sentenced Tuesday 17 years and four months in prison on charges that don’t mention those initial allegations.
The sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke marks another step in the extraordinary personal and legal odyssey for the 37-year-old Muslim convert, a U.S. citizen was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest amid the “dirty bomb” allegations.
Cooke also imposed prison terms on two other men of Middle Eastern origin who were convicted of conspiracy and material support charges along with Padilla in August. The three were part of a North American support cell for al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists around the world, prosecutors said.
Padilla was added in 2005 to an existing Miami terrorism support case just as the U.S. Supreme Court was considering his challenge to President Bush’s decision to hold him in custody indefinitely without charge. The “dirty bomb” charges were quietly discarded and were never part of the criminal case.
“Quietly discarded?” I don’t think so; not when every single wire story brings it up, every time they report on the case.
Frank says: