Jose Padilla Gets 17 Years In Prison

Initially Accused Of "Dirty Bomb" Plot, Was Convicted Last Summer As A Terrorism Conspirator

(CBS/AP)  Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al Qaeda to blow up a radioactive "dirty bomb," was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years and four months on terrorism conspiracy 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 who was held for 3½ years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest amid the "dirty bomb" allegations.

Prosecutors had sought life in prison, but Cook said she arrived at the 17-year sentence after taking into consideration the "harsh conditions" during Padilla's lengthy military detention at a Navy brig in South Carolina.

"I do find that the conditions were so harsh for Mr. Padilla ... they warrant consideration in the sentencing in this case," the judge said.

Cooke sentenced Padilla to less than the minimum usually according in such cases "because she was never fully convinced that the government had a strong case that directly linked Padilla to terror conspiracy as opposed to mere terror training," CBS News legal chief analyst Andrew Cohen says.

"Padilla may not feel like he got a break - 17 years or less for good behavior is no walk in the park. But it actually could have been a whole lot worse for the guy introduced to the world as the 'dirty bomb' suspect. He was looking at a life sentence as a maximum and 30 years as the suggested minimum and he got far less than even that," Cohen says.

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 Qaeda and other Islamic extremists around the world, prosecutors said.

The jury in his trial was told that Padilla was recruited by Islamic extremists in the U.S. and filled out an application to attend an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan.

Cooke said that as serious as the conspiracy was, there was no evidence linking the men to specific acts of terrorism anywhere.

"There is no evidence that these defendants personally maimed, kidnapped or killed anyone in the United States or elsewhere," she 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.

Cooke sentenced Padilla's recruiter, 45-year-old Adham Amin Hassoun, to 15 years and eight months in prison and the third defendant, 46-year-old Kifah Wael Jayyousi, to 12 years and eight months. Jayyousi was a financier and propagandist for the cell that assisted Islamic extremists in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere, according to trial testimony. Both also faced life in prison.

Padilla's mother, Estela Lebron, smiled at reporters in the courtroom when the sentence was announced and questioned outside the courthouse whether the Bush administration had misplaced its priorities in prosecuting her son.

"This is the way they are spending our money? Hello?" she said.

But she was also pleased he didn't get the maximum sentence. "I feel good about everything. This is amazing."

Attorneys for Hassoun and Jayyousi were also gratified but repeated that they will appeal their convictions and sentences, as will Padilla.

"It is definitely a defeat for the government," said Hassoun lawyer Jeanne Baker.

"The government has not made America any safer. It has just made America less free," said William Swor, who represents Jayyousi.

There was no immediate comment from the Justice Department or the Miami U.S. attorney's office.

The men were convicted after a three-month trial based on tens of thousands of FBI telephone intercepts collected over an eight-year investigation and a form Padilla filled out in 2000 to attend an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Padilla, a former Chicago gang member with a long criminal record, converted to Islam in prison and was recruited by Hassoun while attending a mosque in suburban Sunrise.

Padilla sought a sentence of no more than 10 years. Hassoun asked for 15 years or less and Jayyousi for no more than five years.

Padilla's arrest was initially portrayed by the Bush administration as an important victory in the months immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, and later was seen as a symbol of the administration's zeal to prevent homegrown terrorism.

Civil liberties groups and Padilla's lawyers called his detention unconstitutional for someone born in this country.

Jurors in the criminal case never heard Padilla's full history, which according to U.S. officials included a graduation from the al Qaeda terror camp, a plot to detonate the "dirty bomb" and a plot to fill apartments with natural gas and blow them up. Much of what Padilla supposedly told interrogators during his long detention as an enemy combatant could not be used in court because he had no access to a lawyer and was not read his constitutional rights.

Padilla's lawyers argued for a lenient sentence, in part because of his minor role in the conspiracy that was the subject of last year's trial.

Attorneys for Hassoun and Jayyousi argued that any assistance they provided overseas was for peaceful purposes and to help persecuted Muslims in violent countries. But FBI agents testified that their charitable work was a cover for violent jihad, which they frequently discussed in code using words such as "tourism" and "football."

[speakinup]

bad news, veteran71 - Habeus Corpus was suspended by Lincoln in Maryland around the start of the Civil War. So how far back do you want to go to find this "Former Free Nation" you are claiming we lost ?

You are nothing but a fuggin alarmist. Too bad it isn''t "politically acceptable" to tar a feather charlatans anymore. I''d love to see you, feelfree, and witless riding a pole.

And if you are going to manufacture a quote - get the spelling for "Guantanamo" right, ok ! It''s much more believable that way.

By the way - Jose got off light. The *** should have been executed.

[noloyalisti]

They go after this one guy (I have no doubt he was framed), while the real terrorists in America are still free. The ones who helped set up the demolition of the World Trade Center. Just follow the money and it leads right to the terrorist: the GOP supporting multi-national war profiteering corporate traitors (and the mainstream media that was complicit).

[slpdisk]

Finally a journalist with a conscience , The rest of you should be ashamed!!! Corporate media helped create an illegal war!
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks. led the nation to war under decidedly false pretenses. Bush and administration officials stated unequivocally on at least 532 occasions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or was trying to produce or obtain them or had links to al-Qaida or both.
"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida," according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. "In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003."
The cumulative effect of these false statements %u2014 amplified by thousands of news stories and broadcasts %u2014 was massive, with the media coverage creating an almost impenetrable din for several critical months in the run-up to war," the study concluded.

[iaras-2009]

Yet the "serious" news media (CBS, NBC, CNN etc... bunch of sheep) will give any celebrity more air time than what they have given Padilla.

An exception:
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/8/17/jose_padillas_attorney_calls_guilty_verdict

[iaras-2009]

FeelFree1, VERY WELL PUT! I repeat with the hope that others will *actually* read it.

"Here we have an alleged conspiracy that resulted in zero damage of any kind, while the unelected Bush regime, arguably the most dangerous and sickening domestic enemy that this nation has ever faced, continue their conspiracy to murder and torture an untold number of people across the globe.

The one hopeful thing that might come out of this shameful conviction, is that we may now be able to interview Mr. Padilla, and document some of the torture techniques used against him by the Regime.

This information could prove useful in court proceedings against the Regime and their supporters, and bring us closer to convicting them for their crimes and atrocities, potentially getting them before a firing-squad or gallows."

[iaras-2009]

Cooke is an idiot. She sentenced him to 17 years for the heck of it? Innocent until proven guilty or guilty until proven innocent? ==
"Cooke sentenced Padilla to less than the minimum usually according in such cases "because she was never fully convinced that the government had a strong case that directly linked Padilla to terror conspiracy as opposed to mere terror training," CBS News legal chief analyst Andrew Cohen says. "

[feelfree1]

Here we have an alleged conspiracy that resulted in zero damage of any kind, while the unelected Bush regime, arguably the most dangerous and sickening domestic enemy that this nation has ever faced, continue their conspiracy to murder and torture an untold number of people across the globe.

The one hopeful thing that might come out of this shameful conviction, is that we may now be able to interview Mr. Padilla, and document some of the torture techniques used against him by the Regime.

This information could prove useful in court proceedings against the Regime and their supporters, and bring us closer to convicting them for their crimes and atrocities, potentially getting them before a firing-squad or gallows.

[speakinup]

veteran71 - oh I don''t know - you seem to be a crime.

Oh, I''m sorry, I misphrased that. Being as stupid as you should be a crime.

Bet it hurts. But, then again, stupidity should hurt.

[speakinup]

"What a sad and shameful time this is for the United States of America. Posted by FeelFree1

So move to Venezuela - I hear hugo is giving free money to peasants. Money would make it better wouldn''t it ? Then you wouldn''t have to deal with this shame - right ?

[ontheleft]

Wahhh. Wahhh. Wahhh. So he didn''t get lynched by mob justice. That makes the judge liberal? Then this whole *** country is liberal for letting that scumbag of a president get away with a whole lot more than just premeditated murder.

[beehive21-2009]

His days are numbered,prisoners never liked traitors,most love the USA,and broke the law somehow they love the USA ,and shall avenge this lowlife.Still work to be done ,lets get after em.

[justsense]

to SBBM: you seem to be forgetting it was US-CIA that trained Bin Laden.... and Saddam Hussein and Noriega and etc... etc... ad nauseum.
When will we learn? violence begets violence. doesn''t matter if its year 1 or 10,001, people will act the same, greedy, self centered, violent...
but we DO have the ability and knowledge to make it different. do we want to? do you want to?

[david1737]

I believe in giving everyone a fair trial. That said if this guy''s guilty of even half of what he''s accused of, he should never see the outside world again.

[Krazcarl]

He was just a young idiot at the time trying to be a big man now he has 17 years to think about it. The goverment fabricated charges and evidence and knew better to look good and make us feel like thet were doing thier job and he was the victum in this case because of poor choices abd not being very bright which is what got him in this perdicament in the first place,

[feelfree1]

noloyalisti,

Re: "The judge is no doubt an American terrorist sympathizer (ie supports the brutal military invasion in the name of the fraudulent war of terror)."

This does appear to be the case.

What a sad and shameful time this is for the United States of America.

[feelfree1]

Mark Fiore has produced an appropriate cartoon for this verdict.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/03/opinion/main3669404.shtml

[denn034]

This idiot conspired to murder an untold number of Americans and he gets only 17 years! There''s a liberal justice system for you.

[random_radar]

Now we are convicting people for what they might do, not what they actually have done. Haven''t we all gone places and seen things that tempted us but we didn''t follow through?

Now the government is convicting people of thought crimes--hypothetical crimes that haven''t been committed. Kids drawing pictures are considered terrorists. People are turned in for saying the wrong things. Its just a hop skip and a jump to a society dominated by secret police and gulags for anyone who makes a wrong move.

The only reason I speak out rather than toe the line and turn my neighbors in is because I am already on the governments list of personas non grata. I have nothing to lose because I am first in line for the detention camps. I will be there to welcome you and laugh in your face because you foolishly believed you were safe.

[noloyalisti]

The judge is no doubt an American terrorist sympathizer (ie supports the brutal military invasion in the name of the fraudulent war of terror).

The neocons have also made a joke of the judiciary, note the no good deed Supreme court. We are to believe the criminal justice system now? You know the criminal system for the poor like Jose and the justice system for the rich, like Enron.

[feelfree1]

It really makes no difference as to what this man may or may not have done.

Holding this man and torturing him for years, without charging him with a crime, means that any case against him, even if there were one, is invalid, and that the people who should be facing trial, conviction, and sentencing, are the treasonous terrorists that subjected Padilla to this shameful and sub-human treatment.