9/11 Mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Avoids Death Penalty Trial
The accused mastermind of 9/11 has accepted a plea deal to avoid a death penalty trial at Guantánamo Bay—and instead will be sentenced to a year for each life he claimed: 2,976 in total, according to a senior law enforcement official close to the situation who spoke with the Daily Beast.
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of Osama bin Laden’s closest confidantes, took the deal from his cell in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he has been held for close to two decades. Two other detainees also took plea deals to dodge a death penalty trial but are still to be sentenced, the law enforcement official said.
As Mohammed agreed to the deal, a sandstorm from the Sahara blew through Guantánamo Bay, briefly knocking out the power, according to the same official.