D.C. Circuit orders resentencing for Benghazi militant
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that a 28-year prison sentence for Ahmed Abu Khatallah — a Libyan militant convicted in the 2012 attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya — is too lenient and ordered the case back to the lower court for a new sentencing hearing. The attacks killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out the sentence and transferred the case back to the district court in Washington, D.C., according to the ruling. The panel concluded that the 28-year term, handed down by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in 2024, does not reflect the seriousness of Khatallah’s crimes.
The ruling marks the second time the appeals court has rejected a sentence for Khatallah. A district court judge initially sentenced him to 22 years in 2018, but the appeals court rejected it four years ago as a “shockingly” light punishment under the circumstances, leading to the 2024 resentencing that produced the 28-year term. The appeals court panel said the 28-year sentence remains unreasonably lenient.