Mumbai Terrorist Attack Planner Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 24, 2013 6:40PM

Amid heightened security in federal court in Chicago, David Headley, one of the organizers of the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India that killed 164 people, was sentenced by a federal judge to 35 years in prison Thursday.

Headley had previously pleaded guilty to charges he scouted locations for the attack and another aborted plan to behead staff at a Danish newspaper that ran an editorial cartoon of the prophet Muhammad. His cooperation with federal authorities likely saved him from a certain death sentence. Former federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald made an appearance during the sentencing hearing to ask Judge Harry Leinenweber to “consider the unusual nature” of Headley’s cooperation, which was credited for providing information into Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani group responsible for the attack.

Headley’s testimony was instrumental in the conviction of Tawahhur Rana, who was recently sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in the attacks last week. Headley posed as an employee of Rana’s travel agency while scouting locations for the attack, admitted under oath he played Rana for a fool and was working on a book about the attacks.

In imposing the sentence, Leinenweber said he doesn’t believe a letter Headley wrote him earlier saying he was reformed and wanted to ensure he was "never in a position again to commit a terrorist attack."