SEATTLE, (Reuters) – “Millennium bomber” Ahmed Ressam, whose original 22-year prison term was deemed too lenient by a U.S. appeals court, was re-sentenced to 37 years behind bars yesterday for a foiled New Year’s Eve 1999 plot to bomb the Los Angeles International Airport.
Federal prosecutors who appealed the original punishment had asked the Seattle-based U.S. district judge presiding over the case to impose a new sentence that would require Ressam, an Algerian national, to spend the rest of his life in prison. They argued Ressam deserved a much harsher penalty because he had reneged on an agreement to assist in the prosecution of other suspected militants and later recanted all his testimony and other statements to authorities.
By doing so, Ressam, now in his mid-40s, demonstrated he was someone who would remain a threat to society once he is released from prison, prosecutors said.
But U.S. District Judge John Coughenour ruled that while a stiffer sentence was called for, a life term was not warranted under the circumstances.
“This case provokes our greatest fears … but fear is a foul ingredient for sentencing calculations,” the judge said before adjusting Ressam’s sentence to 37 years in prison plus five years of supervised release. Ressam, wearing a beige prison uniform, sat quietly in court with his arms folded during most of the proceedings.
