Mar 30, 2006 - ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters):
A federal judge sentenced a U.S. citizen convicted of plotting to assassinate President George W. Bush and conspiring with al Qaeda to 30 years in prison on Wednesday. In November, Abu Ali, now 25, was found guilty of all charges in a nine-count indictment, including conspiracy to assassinate Bush, conspiring to support al Qaeda and conspiracy to hijack aircraft. His lawyers are appealing the ruling.Posted on 30 March 2006 @ 15:10 GMT"The court is sentencing you to 360 months, which is 30 years in prison," said U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. The sentence will be followed by 30 years of supervised release, Lee said. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Abu Ali, who faced a minimum sentence of 20 years behind bars. But the judge said the nature of the offence and Abu Ali's personal history justified a sentence of less than life in jail.