Life Sentence for Times Square Bomb Plotter

Posted on Oct 5, 2010

cnn.com

This artist’s rendering sketches Faisal Shahzad’s appearance in court for sentencing Tuesday in New York City.

The fate of Faisal Shahzad, who attempted to set off a bomb in Times Square on May 1, was decided in a Manhattan court Tuesday. The 31-year-old Pakistani-American, who pleaded guilty to 10 charges in June, was sentenced to life in prison, but he made a defiant appearance in a case that was clearly being leveraged by various parties to make a larger political point.  —KA

CNN:

Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that the sentence was appropriate, calling Shahzad a “remorseless terrorist who betrayed his adopted country.”

Janice Fedarcyk, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York office, said the sentence “means Shahzad will never pose that threat again.”

New York Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said, “it’s only right that Shahzad forfeit his freedom for life for having tried to forfeit the lives of New Yorkers forever.”

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-New York, said the sentence sends a clear message.

“Let this be a warning to others who would attempt to attack us: You will be caught; you will be held to account; and justice will be brought down upon you.”

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