The plea deal, if approved, would cap the prison term at 30 years. Smadi will only be about 50, and was in the U.S. illegally to begin with. “Dallas skyscraper bomb suspect reaches plea deal,” from WFAA, May 26:
DALLAS — The Jordanian man accused of trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper last September has reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors that could limit a prison term to 30 years.
The FBI arrested Hosam Smadi after they say he tried to bring down the Fountain Place office tower using what he thought was a truckload of explosives. The explosives were fake and had been provided by undercover federal agents.
He was quoted in an FBI affidavit saying that blowing up the building would “shake the currently weak economy in the state and the American nation.” In addition, he is quoted as saying there would be “psychological impacts for the loss of this beautiful building.”
But there it sits. And there you sit.
Smadi, who was 19 when arrested, had been facing maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
In exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors agreed that “the appropriate disposition of this case is a sentence of not more than 360 months.”…
As of this afternoon, the judge has delayed ruling on the deal. “Judge delays ruling on Smadi plea agreement,” by Debbie Denmon for WFAA, May 26:
DALLAS — There are new developments in the case of a Jordanian man who is accused of trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper.
Hosam Smadi, 19, was supposed to enter a guilty plea on one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction on Wednesday in return for a sentence of no more than 30 years in prison.
But late Wednesday afternoon, a federal judge pushed back a decision on the plea agreement until August 20. […]
Before his arrest, the 19 year old man worked and lived in Italy, Texas.
His former neighbors say 30 years behind bars isn’t enough.
“I’m disgusted by it. I don’t think it’s fair. They can come over here and threaten our lives, why do they even get a chance to be able to make a choice like that?” said Ashley Morris.