US

Teen terrorist gets 40 years, but will serve only 8

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GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — A military jury on Sunday gave teen terrorist Omar Khadr a symbolic 40-year prison sentence for killing an American commando in Afghanistan, unaware that the United States agreed to send the Canadian home next year.

Khadr, 24, looked straight ahead when the jury foreman announced the verdict. The widow of his victim, Tabitha Speer, 40, cheered “yes,” and then wept.

“He will forever be a murderer my eyes,” Speer said, adding the 40-year sentence was a vindication.

The Guantánamo military commission, she said, provided a sense of finality — along with assurances that Khadr would never be allowed to enter the United States or ride on an airplane.

The Pentagon staged closing arguments last week in the case, shielding the seven-officer jury from details of the plea bargain that capped his prison sentence at eight years — one in Guantánamo and at most seven more in Canada.

That means Khadr could be free by age 32, if not earlier under Canadian parole provisions.

Full Story: Teen terrorist gets 40 years, but will serve only 8 – Guantánamo – MiamiHerald.com