Ahmed Ressam, the Algerian captured in Port Angeles and later convicted of plotting to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the millennium, gave investigators detailed information about more than 100 potential terrorists in interviews that stretched over two years.
“Among the individuals he discussed were people whose names meant nothing to us when first heard, but were later identified as significant players in al-Qaida and other terrorist networks,”‘ Ressam’s lawyers wrote in outlining his cooperation in court documents filed in anticipation of his sentencing in Seattle on April 27.
Ressam’s sentencing has been repeatedly delayed since his April 2001 conviction by Justice Department prosecutors who wanted to ensure that he continued to cooperate by testifying in other terrorism cases.
Ressam, who was caught in Port Angeles in December 1999, shortly after driving a new Chrysler 300M rental car off the MV Coho ferry from Victoria, was facing up to 130 years behind bars.
But in a plea agreement with the Justice Department, the time will be reduced to 27 years in return for his continued cooperation.
All told, the 37-year-old Ressam provided information on more than 100 people, according his lawyers’ documents.
From May 10, 2001, to April 27, 2003, Ressam spent more than 200 hours speaking with authorities about terrorist networks and people with potential connections to them. He also spent 65 hours testifying during depositions or trials, his lawyers wrote.
Terrorist activities
Among the topics Ressam covered were training camps in Afghanistan, terrorist recruitment, training, cell locations, general targets, the ideology of the movements, weapons and technology, explosives making, chemicals used in constructing explosives and the use of safe houses.
Much of the information Ressam provided remains secret.
The documents filed publicly in U.S. District Court in Seattle this week offer merely an outline of his cooperation.
A more detailed summary, along with the report of a Boston psychiatrist who specializes in the effects of solitary confinement on prisoners, was filed under seal.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday wrote that they planned to review the detailed summary and decide by April 25 what sections, if any, should be made public. Ressam’s sentencing is scheduled two days later.
