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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab – underwear bomber sentenced to life in prison
The man who smuggled a bomb in his underwear aboard a commercial airliner on Christmas Day in 2009 has been sentenced to life in prison, months after he pleaded guilty for his role in what officials later determined was an al-Qaeda plot.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds imposed a life sentence Thursday on Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, who entered the courtroom in Detroit wearing an oversized white T-shirt and a white skull cap. His hands were unshackled once he entered.
He argued a life sentence would be “cruel and unusual punishment,” as well as unconstitutional. The judge rejected the argument.
Prosecutors brought a video showing the detonation of a replica of the device AbdulMutallab attempted to use. The judge ruled that the video will be shown during the sentencing hearing.
AbdulMutallab previously pleaded not guilty to the eight charges against him, which include attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism.
