Captured Pirate To Face Trial In N.Y.

(CBS/AP)  CBS News has learned that the pirate captured by the U.S. Navy on Sunday - one of four who held American captain Richard Phillips hostage off the coast of Somalia - will be brought to New York to face charges.

Authorities tell CBS News the pirate has been tentatively identified as 19-year-old Abdulwali Muse, and he is believed to be the group's ringleader.

Navy snipers shot his three cohorts as they held Capt. Phillips at gunpoint in a small boat off the stern of the USS Bainbridge, which had raced to the scene of the hijacked cargo ship.

Muse will face charges in New York's Southern District, which has experience handling cases against suspected terrorists.

It was this court that saw the convictions of Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the first bombing of the World Trade Center, blind Egyptian Sheik Abdel Rahman, and the co-conspirators in the 1998 African embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 258 people.

The official said it was not immediately clear when Muse would be brought to New York. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose information about the ongoing investigation.

The government had been weighing whether to bring the suspect to trial in the United States or hand him over to authorities in Kenya, which has an international agreement to prosecute pirates.

Since the hostage standoff in the Gulf of Aden ended on Sunday, U.S. authorities have been examining details of the case, particularly Muse's age.

Initially, he was thought to have been between 16 years and 20 years old, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates later said all four of the pirates involved were between the ages of 17 and 19.

If he is under 18, federal prosecutors must take a number of additional steps to justify charging him in federal court.

Though none have been filed publically yet, the suspect could face charges which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

[1993cbsnews]

I understand that due to who he had as a hostage, is why the USA can jail him, but..... Why should our tax money pay for it? And now are we going to give him free room & board, food, and health care he may need. Lets not forget any TV or any other benefits he may get. He should be in confinement to a cell with nothing. Why should he have it better in jail then on the sea which is what he chose. If he was the ring leader, then why does his age matter? If we give him life in jail, don't we risk the possibilities of the next group of pirates to kill one of our people instead of taking a chance to get caught? We need to make an example to him to show we will not tolerate this behavior. But I do agree the USA should deal with him and do it quick. I agree with everyone before me. One day in court, next day hang him!! He is GUILTY, no doubt!!! WE NEED TO SET AN EXAMPLE OF HIM NOW!!!!! or we will surely face the consequences later . Hang him!!!

[SocialistBritain]

' wer'nt me gov, honest '

[johnstossel]

Concrete boots, cyanide, TNT.

[TheMasses01]

I say waterboard him.
Not to vindicate him, just for the fun of it.

[globalcoolin]

Liberal grouops are going to find microphones and announce he is wrongfully held, was captured illegaly--just minding his own buisness on a boat cruise.
See why you don't need a boat? No need for a boat because one can get in trouble innocently like this....
...and no need for a firearm, EXCUSE ME, "assault weapon"....and no need for dentures in these modern times of pudding!
We don't NEED anything and anything is what we will get in trouble with, according to the Obama administration!
We don't need the Obasma Administration!Wwe are due for a one-term president.

[seriously121]

I say send him back and stop wasting my tax dollars!!!

[betterusa]

Not only are we going to waste US taxpayers money on this piece of dirt but some "Ambulance Chaser" will fight like hell to get him off and if that fails there will be countless appeals all paid for by US citizens. He is guilty! Why are we going to have a trial? Where are you going to get a jury of 12 of his piers? Maybe at terrorist school - a hearing and sentencing to immediate execution will do.

[mitchm11714]

This guy could look at US prison life as being a step up in quality of life compared to being back in Somalia. Prison in Kenya, I suspect, would be less luxurious by comparison.

[mollydtt]

There will never be a conviction in the U S, so let's let him go to Kenya for trial. If he stays in the U S the ACLU will be all over this and any conviction would be overturned in the U S.

[waynedale]

I just listened to CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen say that he is worried that the captured Somali pirate might not get a fair trial in this country. Mr. Cohen, on what information do you base this outrageous statement?