U.S. Jury to Rule On Abdulmutallab

This Day

15 February 2012

U.S. Jury to Rule On Abdulmutallab

Thursday is the D-day for Umar Farouk Abdulmutal-lab, the Nigerian who attempted to detonate an underwear bomb aboard a Detroit-bound American aircraft on Christmas Day in 2009.

His sentencing, which was earlier slated for last month, is coming up almost 26 months after he was arrested and he faces the maximum life sentence in jail.

After his sentencing tomorrow, Abdulmutallab, currently being detained at a federal prison in Milan, may be moved to federal super-maximum prison in Florence, Colorado, where other convicted terrorists are serving their time.

The 25-year-old Nigerian, who was 23-year-old at the time of the botched bombing of the American aircraft, had, last October, pleaded guilty to the charges, which included the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder of 289 people.

Ahead of the sentencing, his court-appointed lawyer, Anthony Chambers, had already filed a document arguing that a mandatory life sentence for the Nigerian would be unfair for a crime that didn't hurt any passenger on that flight.