ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 27 (UPI) -- A U.S. man has been sentenced to life for conspiring with al-Qaida and a possible plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush, prosecutors say.
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, of Falls Church, Va., had earlier been sentenced to 30 years in prison, but prosecutors appealed that sentence, saying it was too lenient given the gravity of his crimes. Abu Ali was resentenced to life Monday in an Alexandria, Va., courtroom, CNN reported.
Abu Ali was convicted in November 2005 of conspiring with the terrorist group, but the trial court departed from federal sentencing guidelines. An appellate court, however, ruled last year the 30-year sentence was unjustified, writing, "... The defendant sought to destabilize our government and to shake it to its core. To this day, he wishes he had succeeded."
CNN said Abu Ali confessed to Saudi Arabian interrogators in 2003 that he discussed a plot to assassinate Bush with al-Qaida, but prosecutors offered no evidence to indicate he ever took steps to follow through. But they did say Abu Ali discussed flying a hijacked plane into targets on the U.S. East Coast.
