Accused Pirate Pleas Guilty in US Court

Jama Idle Ibrahim plead guilty to charges of attacking to plunder a vessel, engaging in an act of violence against people on a vessel and using a firearm during a crime of violence, in a Norfolk, VA court Friday.

On August 18, the judge in the case of Jama Idle Ibrahim and five other Somalis suspected of attacking the USS Ashland, threw out the piracy charge, saying that “the government has failed to establish that any unauthorized acts of violence or aggression committed on the high seas constitutes piracy."

The judge left seven other charges on the table, three of which Ibrahim has now plead guilty to. Prosecutors in the case insist that the three crimes Ibrahim plead guilty to amount to piracy.

The three charges carry sentences of 10 years to life in prison. Attorneys in the case had a plea agreement of 30 years in prison for the the three crimes. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 29.

In a statement to the court, Ibrahim said that he and the other five men were in search of a merchant vessel to hijack and hold for ransom that day and that they attacked the USS Ashland, mistaking it for a merchant vessel.

Photo courtesy of AFP