NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A U.S. judge sentenced a Somali pirate to 33 years and nine months in prison yesterday for his role in the 2009 seizure of the Maersk Alabama container ship in the Indian Ocean.
Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse — the sole surviving pirate after others were killed by U.S. Navy marksmen in a high-seas rescue — was charged with kidnapping, hijacking and hostage-taking.
In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty in May.
Muse was extradited to the United States following the April 2009 attack on the Maersk Alabama, in which kidnapped Captain Richard Phillips was rescued while three captors around him were shot dead by sailors on another vessel.
