MIAMI — A federal judge Tuesday rejected prosecutors' pleas that she put onetime accused "dirty-bomber" Jose Padilla in prison for life, citing the harsh treatment he received during 3 1/2 years he spent in military detention as an enemy combatant.
In turning aside government arguments for the harshest sentence possible, U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke also said there were no victims or any damage from the crimes of which Padilla and codefendants Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi were convicted.
A jury convicted the three in August of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap persons overseas and to provide material support to terrorist groups.
Under the sentence imposed by Cooke, Padilla, 37, will serve 17 years and four months and will receive credit for time served. The Muslim convert could be free before he is 50.
The judge's surprising move to depart from federal sentencing guidelines caused the defendants' attorneys to proclaim symbolic victory in a case that has stirred controversy since Padilla was arrested in Chicago almost six years ago.
Cooke deemed the recommended terms of 30 years to life more appropriate to people like Terry L. Nichols, who plotted the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing that killed 168 people, and would-be Sept. 11 hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui.
"There is no evidence that these defendants personally maimed, kidnapped or killed anyone in the United States or elsewhere," Cooke said. She also noted defense arguments that Australian David Hicks, the only terrorism suspect convicted so far at the U.S. military's war-crimes tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is already out of prison. Hicks fought against U.S. forces in Afghanistan in the weeks after the October 2001 invasion in search of Al Qaeda hide-outs.
Padilla's mother was jubilant over the unexpected sentence, proclaiming "Hallelujah!" outside the courthouse. She said the judge's action proved her son wasn't the dangerous terrorist alleged by the government.
"What they said about Jose Padilla -- this proves he's not a terrorist. He's not an enemy combatant. He's not Al Qaeda or Taliban. He's just a human being and an American citizen," Estela Ortega-Lebron said.
Cooke also cut the sentences given to Hassoun, 45, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., computer programmer, and Jayyousi, 46, who holds a doctorate in engineering and worked as a San Diego schools administrator during the time he was fundraising for besieged Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia's Kosovo province, Somalia and Russia's republic of Chechnya.
