Home-grown 'terrorist' let off lightly

MIAMI -- Federal officials never backed off their claim that Jose Padilla planned a radioactive "dirty bomb" attack, but they didn't present that evidence in court. Choosing to prosecute on lesser charges came with a price.

Prosecutors sought a life sentence against Padilla on terrorism support and conspiracy counts, but on Tuesday they got 17 years and four months. With time served and good behavior in prison, the 37-year-old could be free around age 50.

The defense and Padilla's supporters considered it a victory.

"I feel good about everything. This is amazing," said Padilla's mother, Estela Lebron. "He's not a terrorist ... He's just a human being."

In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke said Padilla and his two co-defendants did not compare with terror suspects who have received life sentences, such as Sept. 11, 2001, attacks conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui or Terry Nichols, convicted of involvement in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

"There is no evidence that these defendants personally maimed, kidnapped or killed anyone in the United States or elsewhere," Cooke said. "There was never a plot to overthrow the United States government."

The main evidence presented at trial against Padilla was an application to attend an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan.

There was other evidence, however, collected during interrogations while Padilla was held for 3½ years as an enemy combatant, with no lawyer present and few legal rights. U.S. officials said it shows Padilla's involvement in a plan to detonate the "dirty bomb" and a separate plot to fill apartments with natural gas and blow them up, but prosecutors introduced none of it.

Legal experts said the lighter sentence was a trade-off, similar to convicting gangster Al Capone on tax charges instead of murder or racketeering.

Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun, 45, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 46, were convicted in August after a three-month trial of being part of a support cell that sent recruits, money and supplies to Islamic extremists worldwide, including al-Qaida. Padilla was billed as a "star recruit," while Hassoun was the recruiter and Jayyousi served as a financier and propagandist in the cell's early years, according to trial testimony.

Padilla's 2002 arrest was initially portrayed by the Bush administration as an important victory after the 2001 terrorist attacks and later was seen as a symbol of the administration's zeal to prevent homegrown terrorism. Prosecutors repeatedly invoked al-Qaida and bin Laden in the criminal case.

Padilla and co-defendants Adham Amin Hassoun, 45, and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, 46, were convicted in August after a three-month trial of being part of a support cell that sent recruits, money and supplies to Islamic extremists worldwide, including al-Qaida. Padilla was billed as a "star recruit," while Hassoun was the recruiter and Jayyousi served as a financier and propagandist in the cell's early years, according to trial testimony.

In arriving at Padilla's sentence, Cooke said she took into account the harsh, isolated conditions he faced during his time in a brig as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest. Defense lawyers claim he was tortured by the military, but U.S. officials denied that and Cooke never used the word torture.

Sentencing guidelines had suggested a range of between 30 years and life for all three, but Cooke used her discretion to go below even the minimum. Besides Padilla's sentence, Hassoun got 15 years and eight months and Jayyousi 12 years and eight months.

Padilla's time in the brig does not count against his sentence, but the roughly two years he spent in pretrial detention does. With automatic reductions for good behavior, he could have about 13 years in prison ahead of him.

All three men are likely to appeal their convictions and sentences, their lawyers said. But even they were surprised at the leniency shown by Cooke. "It is definitely a defeat for the government," said Hassoun lawyer Jeanne Baker.

The Justice Department issued a short statement praising the efforts of prosecutors and investigators involved in the long-running case, which centered on tens of thousands of FBI wiretap intercepts collected over an eight-year period.

"Thanks to their efforts, the defendants' North American support cell has been dismantled and can no longer send money and jihadist recruits to conflicts overseas," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security.

Civil liberties groups and Padilla's lawyers called his detention unconstitutional for someone born in this country and contended that he was only charged criminally because the Supreme Court appeared poised to order him either charged or released.

Legal experts who have followed the case said it was significant that Cooke acknowledged in her sentence Padilla's years in the brig in Charleston, S.C.

Padilla's lawyers allege he was forced to stand in painful stress positions, given LSD or other drugs as "truth serum," deprived of sleep and even a mattress for extended periods and subjected to loud noises, extreme heat and cold and noxious odors.

Cooke didn't mention specifics, but concluded that Padilla suffered "harsh treatment" and "extreme environmental stresses" while at the brig.

"Judge Cooke seems to be sending a message that the unanswered questions concerning Padilla's military detention does in fact have some role to play in his fate, and that role is in mitigating his sentence," said Stephen I. Vladeck, an American University law professor.

Padilla might have gotten even less time if he did not have a long criminal record dating to his youth as a Chicago gang member. He converted to Islam while in prison and eventually met Hassoun at a mosque in the suburb of Sunrise, then went to Egypt in 1998.

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."

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Associated Press writer Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami contributed to this story.