U.S. citizen sentenced to over 17 years in prison

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- An American gangster, who was convicted of plotting with al-Qaida members a radioactive bomb attack, was sentenced on Tuesday to 17 years and four months in prison on terrorism conspiracy charges.

"The sentence will serve to inform others ... that conspiracy to support murder, maiming and kidnapping will not be tolerated in this country," said U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke at the court in Miami, Florida, after reading the sentence.

The judge dismissed prosecutors' request for life sentence on Jose Padilla, citing he was not actually involved in terrorism on U.S. soil, attacks on officials nor any plot to overthrow the government.

"There was no evidence the defendants had personally killed or maimed anyone," she said.

The 37 year-old Muslim convert, who used to be a Chicago gang member, was arrested in 2002 and accused of plotting a "dirty bomb" attack at a U.S. city by President George W. Bush's government with another two co-defendants.

In August, the three were convicted on charges of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people abroad, conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism, and providing material support for terrorism.

The co-defendants, Adham Hassoun and Kifah Jayyousi, were sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years and eight months and 12 years and eight months, respectively.

The case grabbed the spotlight in the nation for putting Padilla's legal status in controversy and testing Bush's government on its authority in the anti-terror war.

In the first three and half years after being arrested, Padilla was detained in isolation and interrogated in at a Navy brig in South Carolina as an "enemy combatant" without any charge, which was criticized by civil liberties groups for being unconstitutional for someone born in this country.

Until the Supreme Court stepped in and conducted review of Padilla's legal status in the case, the government agreed to turn him to civilian authorities.