VOA标准英语2008年-US Terror Conspirator Sentenced to 17 Years in

By Brian Wagner
Miami
22 January 2008

A federal judge has ordered an American Muslim convert to serve more than 17 years in prison for conspiring¹ with al-Qaida, and he was accused of trying to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb." In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports that prosecutors² were seeking a life prison term against Jose Padilla.

Judge Marcia Cooke handed down the prison term against Jose Padilla following his conviction last August on charges of conspiring to kill or injure Americans abroad. She also ordered co-defendant Adham Amin Hassoun to serve more than 15 years in prison, and sentenced Kifah Wael Jayyousi to more than 12 years.

Cooke ruled against life prison terms in the case, because she said there was no evidence that the men personally harmed or killed anyone. She also said she took into consideration the three and a half years that Padilla spent in a military brig after being declared an "enemy combatant."

Padilla was arrested at a Chicago airport in 2002 after arriving on a flight from Pakistan, and accused of taking part in a plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb." He was transferred to civilian³ custody⁴ in 2006 to face terrorism charges, which did not include the alleged⁵ bomb plot.

Earlier, Padilla's attorneys had claimed that Padilla was unfit for trial because he suffered mental abuse and torture while in military custody. Judge Cooke rejected the claims and allowed the case to proceed.

Steve Vladeck, associate law professor at American University in Washington, says the torture claims played a key role in the case. "The fact that it [torture claim] comes back now in the sentencing stage as a basis for adopting a much, much lighter⁶ sentence than what the government was seeking is really surprising, and a big setback⁷ for the government," he said.

In a statement, Amnesty International said justice still has not been served in the case, because officials have not addressed the torture claims. U.S. officials have denied the allegations, which include the use of sleep deprivation⁸, stress positions and truth serums⁹ on Padilla.

Vladeck says the sentencing decision may raise new questions about Padilla's torture claims. "The question is: is a lighter sentence really enough of a remedy if what happened to Padilla in military custody was really illegal in the first place?," he said.

Prosecutors say they plan to appeal the prison sentences as too lenient¹⁰. Attorneys for Padilla already appealed his conviction on terrorism conspiracy¹¹ charges.

1 conspiring   

密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致

参考例句：

• They were accused of conspiring against the king. 他们被指控阴谋反对国王。
• John Brown and his associates were tried for conspiring to overthrow the slave states. 约翰·布朗和他的合伙者们由于密谋推翻实行奴隶制度的美国各州而被审讯。

2 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

7 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

8 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

9 serums   

n.（动物体内的）浆液( serum的名词复数 )；血清；（一剂）免疫血清

参考例句：

• To observe the trends of plague FI antibody serums of Microtus fuscus. 观察青海田鼠血清中鼠疫FI抗体动态。 来自互联网
• The contents of T_3,T_4 and cAMP in serums were increased by 16.01%(P<0.05),17.06%(P<0.05) and 19.88%(P<0.05) respectively. 三碘甲腺原氨酸、甲状腺素和环腺苷酸含量，分别比对照组增加了16.01%(P<0.05)、17.06%(P<0.05)和19.88%(P<0.05)。 来自互联网

10 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。

11 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。