January 22, 2008

Judge Gives Padilla 17 Years

Jose Padilla, the onetime accused dirty-bomber whom the U.S. government tried to prosecute for five years in an untested legal maze, has been sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison for aiding terrorists abroad.

The charges on which Padilla was convicted last summer are a far cry from the initial accusations against the 37-year-old American citizen. When he was picked up in 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, the Justice Department accused him of plotting to detonate radioactive, or dirty, bombs in the U.S.

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Posted at 12:55 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Detainees, Jose Padilla, Terrorism
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August 16, 2007

Padilla Found Guilty Of All Charges

UPDATED.

Jose Padilla and two co-defendants have been found guilty of all the terrorism counts against them, including conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas and providing material support for terrorism.

The seven men and five women on the jury reached their decision after a day and a half of deliberations in the U.S. District Court in Miami. Padilla and his co-defendants could receive a life sentence for the conspiracy charges; the material support charges carry up to 15 years.

For Padilla (pronounced puh-dill-ah), one of the most high-profile accused terrorists in the U.S., the three-month trial capped a topsy-turvy legal saga and a rare public test of the Bush administration's post-9/11 domestic prosecution of the war on terror.

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Posted at 3:31 PM
Posted to: Bush Administration, Jose Padilla, Terrorism
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August 07, 2007

Defense Rests In Padilla Trial

Defense lawyers for U.S. citizen Jose Padilla and two other men accused of supporting terrorism by Islamic extremist groups rested their case in Miami today, much earlier than expected and without calling any witnesses or presenting any evidence.

The prosecution, which rested its case in mid-July, responded by calling up one more witness and then resting again, making way for the final stage of the trial, which is in its 53rd day. Jury deliberations could begin as early as next week.

AP has more on the background of the case and the latest developments. And The Gate profiled the case in-depth as the trial began in May.

Posted at 2:44 PM
Posted to: Jose Padilla
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May 14, 2007

The Evolving Case Against Jose Padilla

The terrorism trial of Jose Padilla began today, and it was a far cry from what anyone had imagined following his arrest at O'Hare International Airport in May of 2002.

Since then, Padilla's status in the eyes of the government has evolved from "dirty bomber" to "enemy combatant" to suspected al-Qaida operative, the latest definition of the Chicago native. The 36-year-old spent more than three years in a Navy brig, despite being an American citizen. Just as the U.S. Supreme Court was about to weigh in on whether it was constitutional to hold Padilla indefinitely without charge, the Bush administration moved to have him declassified as an enemy combatant and transferred to a civilian facility.

Much of the air has been taken out of the government's case against Padilla, a former member of a Puerto Rican gang who converted to Islam shortly after being released from jail in his early 20s. There will be no mention of a radioactive dirty bomb at this trial -- at least, not from the prosecution. Instead, Padilla is accused of applying to be an al-Qaida operative and volunteering to carry out violent assaults against targets abroad. Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi have been charged as his co-defendants.

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Posted at 6:53 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Jose Padilla, Terrorism
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