Tag: Zacarias Moussaoui

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed the conviction and life sentence of Zacarias Moussaoui. Moussaoui pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy related to the 9/11 attacks. During the penalty phase, the jury declined to impose the death penalty, and he was sentenced to life in prison, which he is serving at Supermax in Florence.

According to the statement of facts contained in his guilty plea, and his testimony, he was supposed to be part of a wave of a second set of attacks, the target of which was the White House. He was not, as many first thought, supposed to be the 20th hijacker on 9/11. He always denied that he knew any specifics of the 9/11 attacks.

In addition to affirming the conviction and sentence, the court rejected his request to have the case remanded back to the trial court due to the Government’s disclosure of classified information during the pendency of the appeal

The opinion is here. All of Moussaoui coverage, going back to 2002, is accessible here.[More..]

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held oral argument Monday in the appeal of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is trying to withdraw his guilty plea.

The grounds:

Moussaoui's guilty plea was invalid because he was confused about the charges and didn't know that other al-Qaeda members had given information to interrogators that could have cleared him.

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The United States Treasury is $5 million poorer today. The Bush Administration has paid Zacarias Moussaoui's flight instructor a $5 million reward for providing information that led to his arrest and conviction.

Moussaoui had no part in 9/11. He was neither the 5th pilot nor the 20th hijacker, despite having claimed to be both at various times, depending on his mood. Ultimately, he recanted both assertions.

Then there's this:

The reward from the State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program is the first and only one to date to a U.S. citizen related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the officials said.

It is also unusual because Moussaoui, who was imprisoned at the time of the attacks, was never named as a wanted suspect by the program. The program mainly seeks information about perpetrators or planners of terrorist acts against U.S. interests and citizens abroad.