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Tom Gianni / AP
David Coleman Headley is shown in a courtroom sketch from May 2011.
CHICAGO - David Headley, an American who admitted scouting targets for the 2008 Islamic militant raid on Mumbai and later agreed to testify against the plotters to avoid the death penalty, was sentenced on Thursday to 35 years in prison.
The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber, was the maximum sought by federal prosecutors.
The attacks killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. Headley, a 52-year-old U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, admitted videotaping sites that were targeted by the Mumbai attackers.
He was arrested in 2009 and pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including conspiracy to bomb places of public use and commit murder and plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper.
After entering his plea in 2010, Headley cooperated with U.S. investigators and foreign intelligence agencies to avoid the death penalty and extradition to India, Pakistan or Denmark, agreeing to testify in foreign judicial proceedings, the government said.
In a memorandum filed with Judge Leinenweber earlier this week, the government said "there is little question that life imprisonment would be an appropriate punishment for Headley's incredibly serious crimes but for the significant value provided by his immediate and extensive cooperation."
Last week, Judge Leinenweber sentenced Pakistani-born businessman Tahawwur Rana to 14 years in federal prison for providing support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai attacks.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
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Very nice he cooperated to save his own skin...should've thought about that before you became a traitor.
What's worse is that he is responsible for the death of 160 people and as a mass murderer he only gets 35 years. They should have hung him. Our justice system is screwed up.
Wouldn't that be considered Treason?
Besides being crybabies, knee-jerk professional victims, liars and abusers, Muslims are cowards.
So basically this guy does about a month in jail for everyone he assisted killing - life has become cheap these days.
Evil Islamist - the Pakistani terrorist whose actual name is Dawood Gilani (also the half brother of former Pakistani Prime Minister) should have gotten the death sentence for his savage crime. He and his Islamic pig brothers had killed 170 innocent people including Americans and deserved more severe punishment than only 35 years in jail! America should not spend even a single penny more on this evil skunk and he should have gotten the electric chair.
I am more than sure that the piss lover Islamic pigs - the followers of the pissful Pisslam are not going to make or post any comment here today as because they all are sad and busy planning and conspiring their next move as to how they can harm and destroy USA, Europe, Australia, Japan, Singapore, India, Canada or any other peaceful free country on this planet. That's their only job - hate, kill and destroy anything and everything which is not in their poisonous book named Koran. Time has come now to eliminate those evil animals once and for all for peace to prevail. Peace on earth sans those devil Pisslamists!
He should have been given life without the possibility to ever see the outside world ever again. As it is he will probably get out in 15-20 years for good behavior to kill again. Our judicial system is f-ed up. Last week I read a story of an activist who committed suicide was facing 30 years for hacking into a data base and stealing research papers. Where are our priorities?
Doesn't the US pay blood money to victims familys of our collateral damage , Things over here are close to that system , it who can afford the best lawyer is the one that walks . We let murders plea out when fishing for a bigger catch .
This Muslim was never a true American but just another idiot infected with Islam.Too bad he was ever able to enjoy the freedom and liberty we enjoy in the USA.
This is not peculiar to Islam. This guy is just another idiot who is infected with whatever beliefs were held by the last person he talked to.
dever bill, agree, is he much different from all the Jimmy Jones follers down in South America? Unfortunately, a lot of Islamic militants are always on the lookout for easy marks like him.
Muslims are prisoners of their own pathology. It doesn't matter where they live.
Roadhouse, one of the main differences is that instead of Koolaid, it's camel urine.
The big difference though whether it is Jim Jones or the Hale-Bob group, they mostly just killed themselves. Islam reaches out and includes thousands of innocent people in their suicides.
Even worse, he clearly wasn't a devout follower of Islam or we would not have bargained for his life(all the virgins and stuff waiting for him in Paradise). What a total waste. Half-assed American. Half-assed Muslim.
And the UN wants to investigate the use of drones against insurgents.
My point too!
The UN should investigate the use of Islam against innocent people.
The UN building should be bulldozed out into the Atlantic. It is the most corrupt, useless, American hating, Muslim pandering organization on the planet.
Pray Hard
You sound like a fanatic as crazy as the terrorists.
People like you are not part of the solution but rather a big part of the problem.
Grow up and learn a few things before humiliating yourself and your non sensical ideas in public.
So much for your holy duty to die for your cause. Only a coward would help out with something so horrible. Your 52 years old Headley, 35 years is a life sentence. I am glad you'll never see that same light as me scum bag. PS enjoy hell.
Lock him up in a solitary cell, no windows, sound, etc., and he will soon wish he got the death penalty, this was shown to be very effective in a recent epsiode of the Homeland TV series, there are things worse than death.
should have recieved the death penalty for treason...
Why, if these people are naturalized citizens of the US, aren't they stripped of their citizenship?
He was born in the United States. His mother was an American.
To my surprise, you are correct. David Coleman Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani); 30 June 1960) WASHINGTON D.C. A very interesting early life. Much of it in Pakisstan, not the States.
Bill, because the legal system makes so much money off of them in these situations. They create a cash flow from the tax payer into the system. If they solved the problem, the money stream stops. The attorneys, judges, police, prison guards, etc. are just as big of a problem as the terrorists are.
I hope this gentleman has a nice, enjoyable and long term stay at his next holiday destination! Very deserving
They should have sent him to India, and hanging.
Put him into the general population in prison and then let all the other prisoners know what he did. I guarantee they'll punish this P.O.S. in their own special way.
At the end of the day, these wannabe terrorists demonstrate they are true cowards. He made a deal to avoid facing the ultimate penalty for his crime.
I guess the appeal of the virgins in the next life just didn't do it for him. Hmmm.......
Why are we letting this pile of sheite live? Throw him from a chopper over pakiland. Save the US some money to boot. Just another mussi on the wall of shame.
What a deal for the American taxpayer. We get to feed, clothe, and house this piece of crap for 35 years. Thanks a bunch for your time judge and our money. You jackass.
My previous point exactly, Cliff.
You state that without having any idea on what kind of intelligence was acquired with him making this deal.
Irrelevant. He doesn't deserve to live. The good doesn't negate the bad.
Prison is too good for this waste of air.
35 years on taxpayers dime.
Reading up on David Coleman Headley's life story. This guy is a long term, again and again, super a_sh_le. A really disgusting human being. (Just an opinion of course. Judge for yourself, Judge Harry Leinenweber did.)
But just read his bio. He just used his citizenship as a tool for evil ends repeatedly. We should have, (and still should!) shipped him to India. Thank the DEA for making this evil jerk a US Agent, instead of locking him up as they should have. More collateral damage from our War on Drugs.
35 Yrs? What is this a JOKE!
now, why should we pay one and one half million dollars, at fifty thousand a year to keep this moron in jail???? he should be fried, and save the money to use for something useful rather than waste it on this criminal????
They come to America and even might give Birth here, but they will never be True Americas ! They Hate America, why call him a U.S.Citizen ?
It's a trick on real Americans. No Muslim is an American. They are only Muslims with allegiance to the Umma.
The death penalty is there for a reason, and I get pretty sick and tired of them making "deals" to get around it!
For every Muslim prisoner we have, there are thousands of Muslims out there trying to figure out which American to kidnap to trade for their Muslim blow buddy.
What do you expect ? You are all blind to what is going on. Research people, research !
So, Zootat, fill us in.
bet the Dems think they can cure the guy of all his hate with a nice hug !
Wake up, Cliff, there are almost as many Rebublican dhimmis as there are Democrat dhimmis.
There are no American Muslims. Their only allegiance is to the Umma. Look it up.
If his fellow inmates find out what he is, he may not have to worry about sitting in prison for long.
He was an idiot for leaving a better religion of peace and freedom called Christianity only to join a religion of death, evil and slavery called Islam. Anyone who is a terrorist or supports them should get capital punishment. For all we know, this guy may have lead to American's and British soldiers getting killed. He fought against freedom, then it should be taken away from him completely!