Terrorism Charge May Be Reinstated Against Padilla
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MIAMI — Federal prosecutors have asked an appeals court to reinstate a key terrorism charge against an alleged Al Qaeda operative, Jose Padilla, contending a judge erred in finding that it duplicated other counts in the same indictment.
Padilla and two co-defendants are charged with being part of a North American support cell that provided money, supplies, and recruits to Islamic extremists worldwide. Padilla, an American citizen, was held for 3 1/2 years without charge as an “enemy combatant,” originally accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in an American city.
The pleading filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals late Monday argues that the charge dismissed by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke is a distinct offense in the case.
Judge Cooke ruled in August that the first count of the indictment against Padilla and two others — charging a conspiracy to “murder, kidnap, and maim persons in a foreign country” — was essentially the same as two other terrorism support counts. The dismissed charge is the only one in the case that carries a potential life prison sentence.
