By David Ashenfelter, Detroit Free Press –
DETROIT — A federal judge imposed multiple life sentences Thursday on failed underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner on Christmas Day 2009.
“The defendant has never expressed doubt or regret or remorse about his mission,” U.S District Judge Nancy Edmunds told the 25-year-old Nigerian student-turned-al-Qaida-operative during a 90-minute hearing in Detroit. “To the contrary, he sees that mission as divinely inspired and a continuing mission.”
“I believe the defendant poses a significant ongoing threat to the safety of American citizens everywhere,” Edmunds said, adding that she couldn’t control his motivations but could control his opportunity to act on them.
Edmunds imposed the sentence after several passengers on Northwest Flight 253 talked about how the failed bombing attempt had changed their lives forever, causing them to fear flying, seek mental health counseling and have continuing nightmares.
LeMare Mason, a Northwest flight attendant who put out the flames when Abdulmutallab’s bomb fizzled in his underwear, told Edmunds that his life has changed.
“I had a dream job traveling the world,” he said. “This man has stolen and robbed me of the pleasure of going to work.”
He said he wakes up in night sweats because of the incident and has been in therapy since the incident.
“His intentions were to end our lives,” he said.
Shama Chopra, a passenger from Montreal and mother of two, said she has had to overcome the fear of flying since the incident.
“As a mother, I feel for you,” she told Edmunds. “But you had no right to take my life.”
“Today is your turn, and justice will be served,” she said as Abdulmutallab fidgeted with paper at the defense table.
Before leaving the podium, she gave Abdulmutallab’s standby defense lawyer, Anthony Chambers, a rosary to give to his client.
Kurt Haskell, a Detroit-area lawyer, said his life also has changed, but he said he still believes a federal agent gave Abdulmutallab a defective bomb to carry onto the plane to create an incident that would cause the government to install full body scanners at airports nationwide.
“Regardless of how media and government try to shape this case, I am convinced that Umar was given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. agent,” Haskell told Edmunds. “It really saddens me that the government won’t admit its role in the event. Because of this case, I will never trust anything the government says, ever.”
Haskell then turned to Abdulmutallab and said: “Umar, you are not a Muslim martyr. You are merely a government patsy.”
He and his wife, Lori, who also spoke, urged Edmunds to impose the maximum sentence.
Abdulmutallab, for his part, told Edmunds: “The Mujahedeen are proud to kill in the name of God, and this is exactly what God told us to do in the Koran … The situation of one who believes in Allah is always good… it’s always a win-win situation.”
The defendant laid into the U.S. government for oppressing Muslims worldwide and into federal prosecutors in Detroit for misquoting and misrepresenting the facts of the case “to achieve their evil goals.”
Then, responding to Haskell, Abdulmutallab said: “I am not a government paddy.”
Edmunds imposed four life prison sentences on Abdulmutallab.
He pleaded guilty on the second day of trial testimony last October to eight counts, including conspiring to commit an act of terrorism, use of a weapon of mass destruction and carrying a firearm or destructive device during a crime of violence.
Abdulmutallab’s lawyer, Chambers, said Abdulmutallab, who has 10 days to appeal the sentence, likely will serve the sentence at the federal super-max prison in Florence, Colo., where other convicted terrorists are doing time.
Chambers said Abdulmutallab plans to appeal the sentences on his own:
