American Mumbai Plotter Gets 35 Years

An American was sentenced today to 35 years in prison for the key role he played in a 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai that has been called India's 9/11. David Coleman Headley's meticulous scouting missions facilitated the assault by 10 gunmen from a Pakistani-based militant group. The attack killed 160 people, including children. "I don't have any faith in Mr. Headley when he says he's a changed person and believes in the American way of life," said US District Judge Harry Leinenweber.

"I know what a bullet can do to every part of the human body," an American woman injured in the attacks testified this morning. "I know the sound of life leaving a 13-year-old child. These are things I never needed to know, never needed to experience." The maximum sentence the 52-year-old Headley faced was life in prison. He agreed to cooperate and plead guilty in 2010 to 12 counts to avoid what would have been his maximum sentence: death. He also secured a promise not to be extradited to India. (More David Coleman Headley stories.)