Judge gives millennium bomber 22 years 

09:27 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 27, 2005

KING5.com staff and wire services

SEATTLE - It's the final chapter in a story that has gripped western Washington for five years. Ahmed Ressam will spend 22 years in prison for plotting to blow up the Los Angeles airport, LAX, on the eve of the millennium.

Wednesday morning, deputy U.S. Marshals were carrying automatic weapons and police buses were blocking streets on three sides of the federal courthouse, all to provide maximum security for convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam.

Inside the courtroom, Ressam wore a blue shirt and listened through an interpreter. His lawyer Argued for a sentence of substantially less than 20 years, saying Ressam's cooperation shed light on how al Qaeda operated. Ressam spent nearly 1,000 hours telling what he knew to the F.B.I., which resulted in the arrests and prosecution of other terrorists in Europe.

It all happened before 9/11. Ressam was caught at the border checkpoint in Port Angeles, Washington, by customs and immigration inspectors. He had a bomb in his trunk. Ressam was on his way to Los Angeles International Airport to set off his bomb during the millennium celebration, but his lawyer says Ressam is no longer a terrorist.

“He is steadfast in rejecting violence, and he opposes it entirely now. He has changed, and he's not going to back off of that.”

But the government called for Ressam to serve 35 years, saying they could have asked for life. Prosecutors are angry that Ressam stopped cooperating two years ago, and they say that makes him a terrorist once again.

“I don't think Ressam is a changed man, but it really doesn't matter what I think. What really matters is what the judge thought.”

KING

Ahmed Ressam

Judge John Coughenour called his sentencing decision the most difficult of his 25 years on the bench, but the judge also said even as a terrorist, Ressam was tried with rights in an open court of law.

While the judge split the difference on prison time, both sides seemed somewhat relieved. “Having a sentence of below 25 years was very important for Ahmed, and really for the world, because it shows sensitivity that this man cooperated under life threatening circumstances.”

“I think the court sent an important message to would-be terrorists around the world. Lengthy prison sentences will be imposed.”

Ahmed Ressam was captured well before 9/11 and the threat of terrorists was fully realized. U.S. Attorneys called Ahmed Ressam a harbinger of September 11th and the terror attacks that have happened worldwide since then.

While some dismiss Ressam's contributions as minor, it’s clear some of the information he revealed has been very helpful to investigators. During the time he cooperated with investigators, Ressam revealed the names of up to 130 potential terrorists, but that information is not what law enforcement found most significant.

Instead, it was Ressam's description of how al Qaeda is structured. “It has changed the handbook in some ways." First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Bartlett says Ressam helped investigators understand the terror group is not structured vertically, with subordinates waiting for direct orders and instructions. Rather, “These organizations are primarily horizontal, that they exist in small cells, they're given general orders and allowed primarily to work on their own."

Ressam also alerted investigators to a previously unknown fuse technique he'd learned at a terrorist training camp. It was information put to the test soon after by the so-called shoe bomber on board a trans-Atlantic flight in December of 2001.

"It was the fuse technique that Richard Reid used. When the F.B.I. went to look at this case, they immediately recognized this was the fuse because of what Ressam had told them."

It's now clear that even though Ressam was captured in western Washington, he was not able to provide specific information about other terror activity in the Pacific Northwest. "I'm unaware of any specific information regarding Northwest terror links that Mr. Ressam might have given in his earlier period of cooperation."

Officials say while much of Ressam's information was not unique; he still played a critical role to American law enforcement. "So rather than having simply intelligence community sharing information back and forth, now we had a person who was willing to testify at that point in time, and this information was able to be shared with law enforcement officers in the United States and Worldwide, and that was definitely a huge help."

Once Ressam finishes his sentence, he's not entirely off the hook. He was convicted in absentia in France for belonging to a support network for Islamic militants.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Hamilton says when Ressam stopped cooperating he went back to being a terrorist.

After sentencing, Hillier said Ressam was relieved to have the case finished and showed little reaction to his prison term. "The man is ready for anything. He takes the news better than I do," the attorney said.

Coughenour and federal prosecutors want Ressam to testify against his two co-conspirators, Samir Ait Mohamed and Abu Doha, who are awaiting extradition from Canada and Britain, respectively.

KING

Security teams were strategically placed on rooftops around the courthouse Wednesday morning.

In sentencing Ressam, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said he hoped to balance U.S. resolve to punish potential terrorist acts with Ressam's cooperation. Coughenour also said he hoped to send a message that the U.S. court system works in terrorism cases.

"We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely or deny the defendant the right to counsel. Our courts have not abandoned the commitment to the ideals that set this nation apart," he said.

Judge's Statement

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour's made a statement during Wednesday's sentencing hearing for Ahmed Ressam. "Okay. Let me say a few things. First of all, it will come as no surprise to anybody that this sentencing is one that I have struggled with a great deal, more than any other sentencing that I've had in the 24 years I've been on the bench.

"I've done my very best to arrive at a period of confinement that appropriately recognizes the severity of the intended offense, but also recognizes the practicalities of the parties' positions before trial and the cooperation of Mr. Ressam, even though it did terminate prematurely.

"The message I would hope to convey in today's sentencing is twofold:

“First, that we have the resolve in this country to deal with the subject of terrorism and people who engage in it should be prepared to sacrifice a major portion of their life in confinement.

"Secondly, though, I would like to convey the message that our system works. We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, or detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant, or deny him the right to counsel, or invoke any proceedings beyond those guaranteed by or contrary to the United States Constitution.

KING

Ressam arrived at the courthouse with a heavy security guard detail early Wednesday morning.

"I would suggest that the message to the world from today's sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart. We can deal with the threats to our national security without denying the accused fundamental constitutional protections.

"Despite the fact that Mr. Ressam is not an American citizen and despite the fact that he entered this country intent upon killing American citizens, he received an effective, vigorous defense, and the opportunity to have his guilt or innocence determined by a jury of 12 ordinary citizens.

"Most importantly, all of this occurred in the sunlight of a public trial. There were no secret proceedings, no indefinite detention, no denial of counsel.

“The tragedy of September 11th shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism.

"Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete. This is a Constitution for which men and women have died and continue to die and which has made us a model among nations. If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.

"It is my sworn duty, and as long as there is breath in my body I'll perform it, to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We will be in recess."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.