NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge decided to spare an admitted homegrown terrorist known as Bashir the American a long prison term on Thursday, agreeing he should instead receive a sentence of time served - about eight years in mostly solitary confinement - as credit for becoming a prized U.S. government cooperator.
Bryant Neal Vinas, 34, grew up in obscurity on Long Island before becoming a militant Muslim convert, relocating to an outlaw region of Pakistan and scheming with senior al-Qaida members on how best to attack the Long Island Rail Road.
"To say I'm remorseful would be an understatement," Vinas, his face pale, said in a flat voice in federal court in Brooklyn before hearing his sentence.
Outside court, his lawyers said he was relieved and grateful.
Vinas, of Patchogue, had pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges he tried to kill American soldiers and provide support to al-Qaida before Pakistani authorities captured him in 2008 and turned him over to the United States.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis ordered Vinas to remain jailed another 90 days while authorities assess his security needs as someone in likely danger for betraying the terror group and put him on probation for life. The judge also agreed with prosecutors that mental health treatment, vocational training and continued cooperation should be mandatory.
Referring to his cooperation, the judge cautioned, "You have made the most out of that opportunity, and I implore you to do that now."
In a letter to the judge, prosecutors wrote that Vinas eagerly became what "may have been the single most valuable cooperating witness" in efforts to identify members of al-Qaida, pinpoint their hideouts and disrupt their terror plots in the late 2000s when the nation was still reeling from the Sept. 11 attacks.
More:
http://www.wbrc.com/story/35406244/al-qaida-member-who-flipped-and-helped-us-gets-time-served
