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Minor roles or leaders or something else?

By David Oscar Markus

Apparently, that's one of the big fights at the Jose Padilla sentencing (for all three co-defendants). From the AP:

Prosecutors say the three defendants were part of a conspiracy involving armed conflicts over decades in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Somalia and Chechnya and involving tens of thousands of people. Hassoun was depicted as a recruiter, Jayyousi as a financier and propagandist and Padilla as a recruit for al-Qaida.
"The charged conspiracy is exceedingly broad," said Padilla attorney Michael Caruso. "You have to concede that Mr. Padilla played a minimal role."
But prosecutor Russell Killinger said Padilla is "a trained al-Qaida killer" who was recruited to attend an al-Qaida training camp. He called Padilla's bid for a lenient sentence "astonishing."
"He's an instrument of the scheme itself," Killinger said.

The defendant's role in the offense will have an impact on the guideline level and will also impact Judge Cooke's ultimate sentencing decision....

Full post as published by Southern District of Florida on January 10, 2008 (boomark / email).