By Nick Carey
CHICAGO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge sentenced a
Pakistani-born Chicago businessman on Thursday to 14 years in
prison for providing support to an Islamic militant group blamed
for the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Tahawwur Rana, 52, a former Pakistani Army doctor with
Canadian citizenship, had also been found guilty in June 2011 of
conspiring to attack a Danish newspaper, a plot hatched by the
militant group that was never carried out.
Judge Harry Leinenweber said he received many letters from
family members, friends and others testifying that Rana was an
"intelligent man willing to provide assistance in a good way to
many, many people."
"What is puzzling... is how this kind of person could get
sucked into a dastardly plot," Leinenweber said at the
sentencing hearing.
Rana had been found guilty of providing support to the
militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for orchestrating 2008
attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. He was not found to be
complicit in the attacks.
In the trial, the key witness - Rana's childhood friend,
David Headley - implicated Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI,
in the Mumbai attack.
Headley pleaded guilty to scouting targets for the Mumbai
attackers sent by Lashkar-e-Taiba, which the U.S. State
Department has designated a terrorist organization. Headley, an
American with a Pakistani father, is due to be sentenced on Jan.
24.
The plot to attack the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten was
meant as retaliation for the paper's decision in 2005 to publish
12 cartoons by various artists, most of which depict the Prophet
Mohammad. The conspirators discussed beheading employees of the
paper.
Prosecutor Daniel Collins argued during the sentencing
hearing that a harsh sentence was necessary because of the
violent nature of the plot and that Rana was aware of what
Lashkar represented.
"He knew they had blood on their hands and it didn't give
him pause for a moment and he helped them," Collins said.
Rana's lawyer argued that the businessman had suffered a
heart attack in prison and was in generally poor health, adding
that he was unlikely to represent a danger to society.
"He is a good man and got sucked into something," Patrick
Blegen said in court. "But there's no risk that he'll do it
again, None."
Rana, who faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison,
sat quietly throughout the hearing and declined to address the
judge prior to sentencing. Rana's defense team plan to appeal
his conviction and said they would discuss whether to appeal the
sentence.
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