World's Tip - American who aided Mumbai terror plotters gets 35 years in prison

[NBCNews]

Tom Gianni / APDavid Coleman Headley is shown in a courtroom sketch from May 2011.By James B. Kelleher, ReutersCHICAGO - David Headley, an American who admitted scouting targets for the  2008 Islamic militant raid on Mumbai and later agreed to testify against the  plotters to avoid the death penalty, was sentenced on Thursday to 35 years in  prison.

Follow @NBCNewsUS  The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Harry  Leinenweber, was the maximum sought by federal prosecutors.

The attacks  killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. Headley, a 52-year-old  U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, admitted videotaping sites that were targeted  by the Mumbai attackers.

He was arrested in 2009 and pleaded guilty to  12 charges, including conspiracy to bomb places of public use and commit murder  and plotting an attack on a Danish newspaper.


After entering his plea in  2010, Headley cooperated with U.S. investigators and foreign intelligence  agencies to avoid the death penalty and extradition to India, Pakistan or  Denmark, agreeing to testify in foreign judicial proceedings, the government  said.

In a memorandum filed with Judge Leinenweber earlier this week,  the government said "there is little question that life imprisonment would be an  appropriate punishment for Headley's incredibly serious crimes but for the  significant value provided by his immediate and extensive cooperation."

Last week, Judge Leinenweber sentenced Pakistani-born businessman  Tahawwur Rana to 14 years in federal prison for providing support to the  Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group blamed for the Mumbai attacks.

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