Seattle - Convicted “Millennium Bomber” Ahmed Ressam, whose 22-year prison term was judged too lenient by a U.S. appeals court, was re-sentenced on Wednesday to 37 years behind bars for a foiled New Year's Eve 1999 plot to set off explosives at 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 that 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, an Algerian national now in his mid-40s, had demonstrated himself to be 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 adding 15 years to Ressam's prison sentence.
Ressam, wearing a beige prison uniform, sat quietly in court during the proceedings, cupping his chin in his left hand. He did not address the court.
Ressam's lawyers had recommended he be sentenced to between 30 and 34 years imprisonment, arguing that this was close to the 35-year term prosecutors had previously recommended. - Reuters