'Unusually light' prison sentence given to Ujaama

James Ujaama was sentenced yesterday to what U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein said might be considered an "unusually light" prison term after prosecutors said Ujaama has provided "substantial assistance to the government against substantial targets."

Ujaama, a Muslim convert formerly of Seattle, will be released this summer after serving two years in federal prison for aiding the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

While the 38-year-old Ujaama promised continued cooperation — his plea deal with the government states he must provide assistance to federal agents for up to 10 years — he took the opportunity to say he disagreed with the laws under which he had been charged and convicted.

He also defended his attempt to set up a militant jihad training camp in Bly, Ore., four years ago as "legitimate and legal religious training." However, he said that as an American citizen, he had a "contract not to break the law."

"In the future, I'll act more responsibly," he told the judge.

Rothstein told Ujaama the plea deal gives him a chance "to make things right with your country and your people and make sure that nobody is harmed."

She said that at first glance she had found the arrangement — which reduced his sentence to 24 months from a possible 10 years — an "unusually light arrangement."

"But I have never seen a plea agreement that requires a defendant to cooperate as extensively as this one," she said.

Rothstein agreed to send Ujaama to a halfway house to serve out the remainder of his sentence. While under federal supervision, Ujaama cannot knowingly associate with any terrorists or terrorist organizations.

While in Bly, Ujaama and several other militant Muslims from a Seattle mosque fired weapons and talked of jihad against the West. Ujaama invited emissaries from a radical Muslim cleric in London, Abu Hamza al-Masri, to visit the site because he believed it resembled Afghanistan.

Ujaama has testified before a grand jury in New York, which is investigating Abu Hamza and his role at Bly and as an alleged recruiter for al-Qaida.

One of those emissaries, Oussama Kassir, is in custody in Sweden on weapons charges and described himself as a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden, according to court papers and federal law-enforcement sources. The other, Haroon Aswat, is believed to have died fighting American troops in Afghanistan.

Ujaama told the court yesterday he would work to change the laws he disagrees with — in this case, a 1999 presidential directive prohibiting U.S. citizens from providing aid, money or goods to the now-defunct Taliban government in Afghanistan. The Taliban was protecting bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist group, which had been blamed for the 1998 bombings at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

If that fails, Ujaama said, he would have to consider relinquishing his U.S. citizenship.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com