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| Moussaoui Pleads Guilty to 9/11 Plot |
| Saturday, April 23, 2005 |
Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty Friday to helping al-Qaida carry out the Sept. 11 hijackings and said he understood he could be put to death for his role in the deadliest terror attack in American history.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the plea, making the French citizen the lone person convicted in a U.S. court for the 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Moussaoui, more subdued than in earlier court appearances during which he sometimes ranted at Brinkema, answered her questions politely.
"How do you plead?" she asked him for each of the six felony counts against him. Each time, Moussaoui answered, "Guilty."
Brinkema asked defense lawyer Alan Yamamoto, the only lawyer Moussaoui would talk to in recent weeks, if he was satisfied the defendant understood what he was doing.
"When I have spoken to him, we have disagreed," Yamamoto said. "He is facing the possibility of death or life in prison. He has told me that he understands that."
"The court is accepting today the defendant's six pleas of guilty to the six counts of the indictment," Brinkema said.
"You are found guilty at this time," she told Moussaoui.
She said she had discussed Moussaoui's pleas at length with him earlier.
"He has a better understanding of the legal system than some lawyers I have seen in court," the judge said.
Moussaoui stood quietly before her on Friday, with two security officers behind him. He was not shackled.
He wore a green prison jumpsuit. He had a full beard.
After standing for five minutes to review the statement of facts against him, he asked to sit down. The courtroom was hushed as reviewed the document, then signed it.
� 2005 The Associated Press
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posted by J.R. @ 8:16:00 AM   |
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