By Scott Daugherty
NORFOLK
A Somali pirate is scheduled to be sentenced this morning in U.S. District Court for his role in the 2011 hijacking of a sailboat off the coast of Africa that left four Americans dead.
Ahmed Muse Salad, 25, is expected to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Over the summer, prosecutors had argued for Salad to be sentenced to death. One of the 12 jurors to hear the case disagreed. The decision had to be unanimous.
Two other Somali men involved in the hijacking — Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar — are set to be sentenced later this week. They also are expected to be sentenced to life in prison.
Salad, Beyle and Abrar were convicted July 8 of 26 felonies.
The charges stemmed from the Feb. 22, 2011, shootings on a yacht named Quest after negotiations broke down between the pirates and Navy officials. The victims were Scott and Jean Adam, a California couple who owned the boat, and Phyllis Patricia Macay and Robert Riggle, both of Seattle, who had joined them on the voyage.
Via: http://hamptonroads.com/
