Abdi Wale Abdul Kadhir Muse shown in the custody of the United States government in New York. The Somali teen will be tried as an adult and charged with piracy under a colonial-slave era law utilized by the racist state.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
By TOM HAYS
The Associated Press
11:37 a.m. Wednesday, February 16, 2011
NEW YORK — A Somali pirate who attacked a U.S.-flagged ship off the coast of Africa in 2009 has been sentenced to more than 33 years in prison.
Federal Judge Loretta Preska cited the need for deterrence in issuing the 33-year, nine-month sentence. U.S. prosecutors had asked a Manhattan judge to give Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse (AHB'-dih-wah-lee AHB'-dih-kah-dir moo-SAY') nearly 34 years in prison.
His lawyers had asked for the minimum term, 27 years.
Muse pleaded guilty last year to federal charges alleging his crew of armed pirates commandeered a merchant ship in the Indian Ocean and took its captain hostage. A tense standoff ended when Navy sharpshooters killed three of Muse's men and freed captain Richard Phillips, of Underhill, Vt.
The case was part of a stepped-up effort to stem a wave of 21st-century piracy using 19th-century maritime laws.
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