Algerian terrorist Ressam offers no more help, faces stiffer sentence
By Hal Bernton Seattle Times Monday, July 25, 2005 - 12:00 AM <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002401797_webressam25.html > http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002401797_webressam25.html Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian who plotted to bomb the Los Angeles airport in December 1999, will offer no further assistance to U.S. Justice Department officials prosecuting terrorism cases, according to a filing today by Ressam's attorneys. Ressam is scheduled to appear Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle at a sentencing hearing before U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour. Ressam "fully recognizes" that his decision not to cooperate will result in a longer sentence, according to the filing Ressam was caught by U.S. Customs officials at Port Angeles as he tried to enter the U.S. with a car filled with bomb-making materials. He was convicted in April 2001 for his failed attempt to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport. His sentencing, however, was delayed as he aided U.S. law enforcement officials in their investigations of the al Qaida network. Ressam eventually wearied of the interrogations. And, by the time of the sentencing hearing in April, he had stopped cooperating with law enforcement officials even as they sought his assistance in pending cases.. At that April hearing, prosecutors proposed a 35-year sentence for Ressam's conviction. Ressam's defense attorneys proposed a 12 ½ year sentence, citing Ressam's early cooperation with authorities. The hearing ended as Coughenour asked Ressam to consider resuming cooperation with law enforcement officials, and indicated that assistance would likely earn a lighter sentence. At the hearing, Ressam indicated he would think about the judge's offer. But today's court filing indicates Ressam is ready to be sentenced as the hearing resumes on Wednesday. "He is now at a point where he feels he can do no more," according to the filing by Ressam's attorneys. "Mr. Ressam knows what he did was wrong and hopes the court accepts his statement that he is truly sorry." Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or <http://us.f331.mail.yahoo.com/ym/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
