Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 14 February 2018

Bomber gets life in prison for New York, New Jersey attacks

By LARRY NEUMEISTER bombs. Given a chance to speak,
Associated Press "You sound like most peo- Rahimi, shackled at the an-
NEW YORK (AP) — A New ple and yet your actions kles, portrayed himself as
Jersey man who set off are totally at odds with your a victim, saying he came
small bombs in two states, voice," Berman said. to America as a 7-year-
including a pressure cooker "We saw videos," he said, old boy with no hatred for
device that blasted shrap- referencing multiple videos anyone and was raised
nel across a New York City at his fall trial that showed by a father in a house-
block, was sentenced Tues- Rahimi dragging bombs in hold where there was no
day to multiple terms of life two suitcases and a back- mention of what his father
in prison by a judge who pack through Manhattan experienced during the
repeatedly called it a mira- streets, setting one down a Soviet occupation of Af-
cle nobody was killed. half hour before it explod- ghanistan.
Ahmad Khan Rahimi, a nat- ed in the upscale Chelsea He described how his fa-
uralized U.S. citizen born in neighborhood and an- ther went to law enforce-
Afghanistan, was criticized other a few blocks away ment on multiple occasions
by a prosecutor for failing that was discovered and to report suspicious behav-
to show remorse and was disabled before it could ex- ior he had seen in his son,
scolded by a victim for not plode. Ahmad Khan Rahimi, center, is led into court in Elizabeth, N.J. but ultimately felt let down.
apologizing to the 30 peo- "It's really hard to square (AP Photo/Mel Evans) “I don’t harbor hate for
ple he injured. the way you appear in anyone,” Rahimi said be-
U.S. District Judge Rich- court to that other behav- $562,803 in restitution. along a Marine Corps road fore describing how he
ard M. Berman in Man- ior," Berman said. Berman called Rahimi, 30, race in Seaside Heights, believed law enforcement
hattan said it was hard to Regardless, the judge said, a “clear and present dan- New Jersey, frightening targeted him once he be-
reconcile the "reasonable Rahimi deserved multiple ger” and said it was too participants but injuring no came a practicing Muslim.
enough" man he saw in life prison terms. One life big a risk not to impose a one. Assistant U.S. Attorney
court with the terrorist who term was mandatory but life sentence, especially af- The bombings triggered Shawn Crowley immedi-
tried to kill as many people the judge exercised his dis- ter Rahimi offered “not an a two-day manhunt that ately followed Rahimi, say-
as he could when he left cretion by imposing life sen- ounce of justification” for ended in a shootout with ing he had just “blamed
his home early the morning tences for counts that Ra- his crimes. police in Linden, New Jer- everyone else” after caus-
of Sept. 17, 2016, with two himi's defense lawyer said The Chelsea explosion hap- sey. Rahimi was shot sever- ing so much destruction
pressure-cooker explosives deserved only a 15-year pened just hours after a al times but survived. Police through crimes “fueled by
and a bag full of smaller sentence. He also ordered small pipe bomb exploded officers also were injured. hate.” q

Philadelphia:

Jurors hear closings at crime boss trial

By TOM HAYS eteering scheme marked cob countered by telling
Associated Press by violence, Joseph "Skin- jurors that they were being
NEW YORK (AP) — A no- ny Joey" Merlino soon re- misled by "compromised"
torious Philadelphia mob emerged as a feared fig- turncoat mobsters who
boss who claimed he gave ure in the Mafia, Assistant testified against Merlino,
up his life of crime instead U.S. Attorney Lauren Schorr including one who made
made money by mus- told jurors. That meant he hundreds of hours of secret
cling his way into health could demand a cut of the recordings of him.
insurance and gambling illicit profits from schemes "Have you heard anybody
schemes run by organized begun in 2013 by gangsters say Joseph Merlino is the
crime families around the who were under his protec- boss of the Philadelphia
East Coast, a prosecutor tion, Schorr said. mob?" Jacobs asked, refer-
said Tuesday at closing ar- "Being with Merlino did not ring to tapes played for the
guments at a federal rack- come for free," Schorr said jury. "The answer is obvious
eteering trial. in federal court in Manhat- — not a peep that he's the
After spending 12 years be- tan. "You pay tribute." boss of (the) Philadelphia
hind bars in another rack- Defense attorney Edwin Ja- mob." q