A Libyan man who assisted an Islamist militia that stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi in 2012 was sentenced to 19 1/2 years in prison.
Mustafa al Imam, 47, was convicted in June of conspiring to support terrorists and destroying government property. The jury was deadlocked on other charges, including murder charges related to the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
On Thursday, Judge Christopher Cooper said the Libyan man acted as the “eyes and ears” for the mastermind of the attack that night.
An attorney for al Imam said he planned to appeal the sentence. Prosecutors sought a 35-year sentence for him, while his defense team argued that a little over three years would be fair.
Al Imam was captured Oct. 29, 2017, and brought to the United States for trial in Washington. The arrest came five years after the attack killed Stevens, CIA security contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty, and State Department employee Sean Smith.
Al Imam arrived at the diplomatic mission as the attack was ongoing in a convoy with Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the militia’s leader and accused mastermind of the attack. Al Imam had a series of phone calls with Abu Khatallah throughout the attack, according to prosecutors. After American security personnel withdrew from the mission, al Imam and Abu Khatallah were among those who obtained sensitive information, including maps related to the location of the CIA’s annex in Benghazi, where more Americans were later killed.
Abu Khattalah is serving a 22-year sentence after he was convicted of terrorism-related crimes in 2017 but was acquitted of murder.
After Thursday’s hearing, Barbara Doherty, the mother of a CIA contractor who was killed in the attack, hugged one of the prosecutors and told him, “Thank you for all your hard work,” according to CNN.
Doherty said she was pleased with the sentence.
