Somali pirate sentenced to 34 years

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A Somali pirate was sentenced in New York Wednesday to 33 years and nine months in federal prison for trying to commandeer an American ship.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska cited the deterrence factor in sentencing Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse to the lengthy term of incarceration, ABC News reported.

Muse pleaded guilty last year to taking part in the attack on the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean on April 8, 2009.

He was stabbed during the fight aboard the vessel and tied up by the crew.

Failing to seize the ship, the other pirates took the captain, Richard Phillips, and set off in a lifeboat, refusing to trade Muse for him. Four days later, Navy SEALs rescued the captain and killed the three pirates holding him.

Prosecutors said Muse was the first to board the Maersk Alabama, fired an AK-47 at Phillips and threatened to kill him.

Last May, he admitted to six felony counts of kidnapping, hostage-taking and hijacking maritime vessels.

He was one of the first to be charged with piracy in the United States since the Civil War.