A Miami judge Tuesday rejected the government's bid for life sentencings for Jose Padilla and two other men convicted of terrorism charges, saying their support for Islamic extremists abroad did not call for the severe punishment given the nation's worst terrorists. U.S District Judge Marcia Cooke gave Padilla, a man inextricably linked to our the Bush administration's war on terror, 17 years and four months in prison for participating in a South Florida-based conspiracy to aid Muslims in "violent jihad."
The judge's decision to grant far below a life sentence was a blow to the government. Cooke reasoned that Padilla's crime was not tantamount to 9-11 or the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. "There was never a plot to harm individuals in the United States," Cooke said. "There was never a plot to overthrow the U.S. government."
Padilla, 37, a U.S. citizen accused of training with the global terrorist group al Qaeda, stared blankly as Cooke condemned his "harsh" treatment as an "enemy combatant" in a Naval brig before his transfer to Miami to face terrorism charges. Cooke deducted the time Padilla spent in military custody -- 3 1/2 years -- from his total sentence. "I do find that the conditions were so harsh that they warrant consideration," Cooke told a crowded courtroom.
Padilla's mentor, Adham Amin Hassoun, a Palestinian who had met him at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., mosque in the 1990s, and Hassoun's colleague, Kifah Wael Jayyousi, a U.S. citizen of Jordanian descent, were sentenced to 15 years and eight months, and 12 years and eight months, respectively.
Prosecutors, who sought life sentences for all three defendants, said they are considering an appeal. Defense attorneys said they will appeal the prison terms along with the convictions. 
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