Chicago: A Chicago federal judge sentenced Pakistani-American LeT terrorist David Coleman Headley to 35 years in prison for his role in the 2008 terror attack that killed 160 people in Mumbai, India.
Headley, 52, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, admitted he attended training camps in Pakistan operated by the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba on five occasions from 2002 to 2005, and traveled to India five times to conduct surveillance before the Mumbai massacre.
The charges included conspiracy to aid the Pakistani-based group, Lashkar-e-Toiba, or the Army of the Pure, that mounted the attacks, as well as conspiracy to commit murder in India, and aiding and abetting in the murder of six Americans
“I don’t have any faith in Mr Headley when he says he’s a changed person and believes in the American way of life,” said US District Judge Harry Leinenweber in imposing the sentence, which was in the range of what prosecutors had requested for Headley’s widespread cooperation.
The maximum sentence Headley faced on Thursday was life in prison. He agreed to cooperate and plead guilty in 2010 to 12 counts to avoid what would have been his maximum sentence: death. He also secured a promise not to be extradited to India.
Late year, India secretly hanged the lone surviving gunman, Ajmal Kasab. Citing what they described as valuable intelligence Headley provided authorities about terrorist networks since his arrest, prosecutors had asked for a relatively lenient sentence of between 30 and 35 years.
Seven people, including Headley’s childhood friend from Pakistan, Tahawwur Rana, were charged with terrorism. Rana was sentenced to 14 years last week in the Denmark plot.
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