Two Somali pirates accused of attacking a US Navy warship in 2010 have been sentenced to life in prison, while a third got a lighter sentence for cooperating in another case, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
Abdi Razaq Abshir Osman and Mohamad Abdi Jama both received mandatory life sentences for taking part in piracy off the coast of Somalia. A third, Mohamed Ali Said, received a 33-year sentence.
In April 2010, they and four others mistook the USS Ashland (LSD-48) for a cargo ship and opened fire on it with their AK-47 rifles in an attempt to capture it in the Gulf of Aden.
Instead, sailors on the Ashland fired two rounds from the ship's 25mm gun on the small pirate skiff and killed one, while the rest were captured, according to AP. There was no damage to the Ashland or injuries to the crew.
District Judge Raymond Jackson originally sentenced five of those convicted to sentences of around 30 to 40 years, but a federal appeals court overruled him last year, and he was forced to issue the life sentences to two of them on Monday.
Two other convicted pirates, Abdicasiis Cabaase and Mohamed Farah, are still awaiting sentencing.
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