FBI Press Release: Five Somalis convicted of Piracy, first such conviction since 1820
Posted: Tuesday, November 30, 2010
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
A federal jury in Norfolk, Virginia has found 5 Somalis guilty of piracy and related offenses for their attack on the USS Nicholas. After U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis accepted the verdict, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Neil H. MacBride had this to say:
"Today marks the first jury conviction of piracy in more than 190 years. These five Somali pirates were convicted of an armed assault on the high seas against what they thought was a merchant vessel, but turned out to be a U.S. Navy frigate engaged in counter-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa. Modern-day pirates not only threaten human lives but also disrupt international commerce by extorting hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments. Today's conviction demonstrates that armed attacks on U.S.-flagged vessels are crimes against the international community and that pirates will face severe consequences in U.S. courts."
Convicted in this trial were Mohammed Modin Hasan, Gabul Abdullahi Ali, Abdi Wali Dire, Abdi Mohammed Gurewardher, and Abdi Mohammed Umar, all of whom were citizens of Somalia. The charges upon which they were tried and convicted were:
Piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees, conspiracy to use firearms during a crime of violence, and multiple firearm counts, including the use of a rocket propelled grenade (RPG).
Each of these five men face a mandatory penalty of life in prison. Their sentencing date has been set for March 14, 2011.
These Somalis had a large ship in which they carried their supplies and they had two smaller vessels which were equipped with assault weapons and a rocket propelled grenade launcher. On April 1, 2010, Hasan, Ali and Dire set out in one of the smaller boats, leaving Gurewardher and Umar to attend the large boat. They were intending to pirate what they thought was a merchant vessel. They opened fire on the vessel with Hasan and Ali using assault weapons and Dire the RPG. They soon discovered this was not a merchant ship but the USS Nicholas, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.
The piracy conviction and the conviction for the use of a destructive device (an RPG) in relation to a crime of violence both carry a mandatory penalty of life in prison. In addition, they are facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for attack to plunder a vessel; a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy and an act of violence against persons on a vessel; a maximum of 10 years in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon in the special maritime jurisdiction; a maximum of 20 years in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees; a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to use firearms during a crime of violence; a maximum of 10 years in prison for one count of use of a firearm during a crime of violence, a second firearm count carries an additional 25 years-to equal 35 years-in prison. (FBI Press Release-November 24, 2010)
This Article has been viewed 1,557 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Talk about foolish criminals - attacking a US nave frigate! I'm glad these wretches were caught and have been found guilty.
Indeed, you are so right, Jennifer. They now have another guy on trial for piracy. I don't have the details just yet. Some folks would rather die than to do what is right and work for a living.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.