Pilot Online
Friday, May 20, 2011
Three of the Somalis are to be in U.S. District Court on this morning. According to court records and the lawyers involved, two will plead guilty to one count of piracy and one count of hostage taking. They will face life in prison when they are sentenced at a later date. The third also will plead guilty, but the charges he is admitting to have not yet been made public.
Five others captured by the Navy during the attack of the yacht Quest are scheduled to plead guilty next week, the court filings say.
"His intent is to acknowledge his wrongdoing and his culpability involving the actions that led to the deaths of the four Americans," Norfolk defense attorney Jon Babineau said of his client, Mohamud Hirs Issa Ali.
He said Ali, 32, will plead guilty today to hostage taking and piracy.
As part of the plea deal, the Somalis have agreed to testify against others in the case who were directly responsible for the shooting deaths of the boat's owners, Scott and Jean Adam of Los Angeles, and their friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle.
The Quest was hijacked in the Arabian Sea in mid-February. The four were shot and killed as the Navy was trying to negotiate their release.
Source: Pilot Online