Benghazi ‘mastermind’ Ahmed Abu Khatallah resentenced to 28 years in prison

Washington (CNN) — Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the Libyan militia leader convicted for his role in the deadly 2012 terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, was resentenced Thursday to 28 years in prison, despite federal prosecutors seeking at least 60 years to life.

The new sentence comes more than two years after a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, ruled that his original sentence of 22 years was “unreasonably low” and ordered the judge who imposed it to resentence him.

US District Judge Christopher Cooper tacked on six more years to Khatallah’s sentence, saying he did not think the crimes for which he was convicted warranted a substantially higher prison term.

“No matter what I think, the government did not prove the most serious charges in this case,” the judge said as he explained his decision to once again not consider a slew of other charges, including four murder charges, of which Khatallah was acquitted.

At the end of the nearly two-hour-long hearing, Cooper acknowledged the toll the long-running case has had on the families of the victims of the 2012 terror attack that killed the US ambassador to Libya and three others and said that he hoped the sentence does not “detract from their legacy.”

“I sure hope that this is the end of the road in this case,” he said.

Khatallah was present at the hearing, sitting silently at the defense table in a white prison jumpsuit and a long white beard. He listened to the proceedings through a pair of interpreters, but did not address the court at any point.

Also seated in the courtroom during Thursday’s hearing were several family members of the four slain Americans, including the brother of CIA contractor Glen Doherty, who spoke briefly about his family’s desire to see the judge impose a harsher sentence.

“We continue to feel that the sentence was too light,” Greg Doherty said.

Khatallah was convicted in 2018 on four federal charges stemming from his involvement in the attack: Conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists; providing material support and resources to terrorists; destroying a federal building; and carrying a semiautomatic assault weapon during a crime of violence.

Cooper sentenced him six years ago to 12 years apiece for the first three crimes, which he had been serving concurrently. The judge also sentenced Khatallah to 10 years for the fourth crime and ordered him to serve that time after completing the 12-year sentence.

The new sentence consists of 15 years for the first two crimes and 18 years for the third crime, which he will serve concurrently. The judge maintained the 10-year sentence for the fourth crime, which Khatallah will serve following the first 18 years.

After the 2018 sentencing, Khatallah appealed his conviction, but prosecutors from the Justice Department also appealed the sentence, arguing it was much lower than it should be. In a unanimous ruling in July 2022, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction and threw out the original sentence.

“Khatallah’s sentence is substantively unreasonably low in light of the gravity of his crimes of terrorism … and leadership role in a violent attack on the Mission,” the court said in its unsigned opinion, noting Cooper’s “own recognition of the vital need to deter such crimes.”

The circuit judges said the lower court’s “decision to disregard” the charges Khatallah was not convicted of “cannot account for its dramatic downward departure from the Sentencing Guidelines’ recommendation.”

Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, prosecutors described Khatallah in court papers as “an unrepentant terrorist” who committed his crimes because of “his deep-seated animus toward America.” They asked the judge to resentence him to life in prison.

“It’s difficult to overstate the defendant’s conduct,” prosecutor John Crabb said on Thursday. “It’s important to impose a stiff sentence here.”

Attorneys for Khatallah urged Cooper to maintain the original 22-year sentence, arguing in court papers that the appeals court ruling only requires the judge to “more fully explain its reasons for the sentence it chose.”

Jeffrey Robinson, one of Khatallah’s lawyers, on Thursday sought to downplay the extent to which his client was involved in the attack, telling the judge that the 22-year sentence was “more than adequate” for his four convictions.

During a seven-week trial in 2018, federal prosecutors portrayed Khatallah as the ringleader of the Benghazi attacks and a “stone-cold terrorist.” A jury in DC ultimately found him not guilty of the murders of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, as well as US government employees Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Doherty.

The attack ignited a political firestorm that hounded then-President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Republican critics faulted Clinton and her team for failing to act more decisively in response to the attack and criticized the White House for initially blaming the violence at the consulate on spontaneous protests against an anti-Muslim video made in America.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Laura Koran contributed to this report.

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