American sentenced to 45 years prison for role in al Qaeda bomb attack

NEW YORK: A US citizen was sentenced to 45 years in prison on Tuesday for supporting the militant group al Qaeda and helping to prepare a 2009 car bomb attack on a US military base in Afghanistan, less than the life sentence sought by prosecutors.

Muhanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, 32, was sentenced by US District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn federal court. Al Farekh´s lawyer, David Ruhnke, said at the court hearing that Al Farekh would be appealing his conviction. Before Cogan imposed the sentence, Ruhnke read a letter written by Al Farekh, who did not speak himself. Al Farekh did not directly address the crimes of which he was found guilty, but asked the judge to consider that young men could be misled into violence.

Al Farekh said in the letter that he was now opposed to violence. Assistant US Attorney Richard Tucker urged the judge not to believe the letter, saying Al Farekh remained “unshakably committed to violent jihad” and was “willing to say anything. “Cogan said the letter was “not an enthusiastic acceptance of responsibility. “”I just can´t draw anything from that,” he said. Still, the judge said he was giving Al Farekh some hope of life after prison because he did not believe him to be “totally devoid of humanity,” citing the support of his family. Cogan said that, with 15 percent off his sentence for good behavior and three-year time served, Al Farekh could get out when he is 67.