John Walker Lindh agrees to surprise plea bargain
By John Riley
Newsday
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — John
Walker Lindh, the 21-year-old
Californian who converted to Is
lam and fought for the Taliban in
Afghanistan, agreed to a surprise
plea bargain in federal court Mon
day that could keep him in jail for
20 years.
Lindh pleaded guilty to supply
ing services to the Taliban and
carrying a rifle and grenades
while supplying services. But
prosecutors dropped the most se
rious charge against him — that
he conspired to kill American sol
diers while fighting in
Afghanistan — and other charges
that could have led to his impris
onment for life.
“I provided my services as a
soldier to the Taliban last year
from August to November,” Lindh
told U.S. District Court Judge T.S.
Ellis III during a one-hour hearing
on the plea. “In the course of do
ing so I carried a rifle and two
grenades, and I did so knowing
that it was illegal.”
The plea deal, lawyers said, was
reached late Sunday night, on the
eve of a scheduled hearing Mon
day on Lindh’s efforts to suppress
statements he made on CNN and
to military and FBI interrogators in
Afghanistan. The talks were
moved along by remarks Ellis
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made in court Friday indicating he
was unlikely to grant Lindh’s mo
tions, which would have strength
ened the government’s case.
Prosecutors said that the pro
posed sentence — 10 years on
each count, served consecutively
— was a tough one, and that the
plea deal would free up resources
for the war on terror rather than
calling on soldiers involved in
Lindh’s case to spend their time
testifying. It was cleared by the
White House, according to admin
istration officials.
“Twenty years is a period of
time almost as long as he’s been
alive,” said Virginia U.S. Attorney
Paul McNulty. “This is a major
sentence.”
Lindh’s lawyers and family said
that, in deciding to plead guilty,
Lindh was conscious that public
opinion was not favorably dis
posed toward him. The govern
ment’s willingness to drop any
counts that charged Lindh with
involvement in terrorism or ef
forts to kill Americans cleared the
way for the deal, they said.
“Anyone who knew John
would be proud to have him as a
son,” said Lindh’s father, Frank
Lindh. “I am very glad the govern
ment has dropped all the terror
ism charges. That was never an
appropriate charge.”
“I’m relieved he’s not facing
three life sentences and 90 years,”
said James Brosnahan, Lindh’s
lawyer. “Realizing how tough it
is, we feel pretty good.”
Lindh, after attending religious
school in Pakistan, joined the Tal
iban in its war against the North
ern Alliance in Afghanistan last
year. Prosecutors alleged that he
received military training at an al
Qaida camp. He was fighting on
the front lines when the U.S.
joined the war after Sept. 11, and
eventually surrendered.
While confined in a prison near
Mazar-e-Sharif, Lindh was caught
up in a riot that led to the death of
CIA officer Johnny Spann. Prose
cutors conceded they had no evi
dence Lindh played any role in
Spann’s death. But the conspiracy
charge in his indictment, which
was dropped Monday, had cited
Spann’s death as an overt act in
the charge of conspiracy to kill
Americans.
Spann’s mother, Gail, Monday
said the plea deal for Lindh was
n’t fair. “I’m sure it is to John
Walker’s family, but we don’t
think it is to us, of course,” she
said. “As Mike’s mom, I would
like for Mike to have had 20 years
to live.”
Lindh himself, according to lat
er statements, barely survived the
prison riot, after spending several
days in a flooded basement with a
bullet in his leg. In early Decem
ber, dirty and bedraggled, he was
filmed and interviewed by a CNN
reporter in northern Afghanistan,
and said his “heart became at
tached” to the Taliban.
Under the terms of Monday’s
plea bargain, Lindh is required to
cooperate with the government in
any terrorism investigations, and
is prohibited from profiting from
the sale of his story. He also with
drew his claims of mistreatment
by U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
His sentencing is set for Oct. 4.
If Ellis, as expected, approves the
20-year sentence agreed on by the
two sides, Lindh would be eligi
ble for release with credit for good
behavior in about 17 years.
©2002, Newsday. Distributed
by the Los Angeles Times-Washington
Post News Service.
SPORTS
NBA lacks good role models
What’s bigger than an NBA
player’s ego? His mouth.
When I was at the
young and impressionable age of
12 or so, some fat, bald-headed gi
ant got on TV, sold sneakers, and
had the audacity to say — get this
— “I am not a role model.”
Parents
screamed, kids
cried, Nike
wondered, and
Charles
Barkley
laughed.
Not because
he had an
epiphany. No,
Charles
laughed be
cause he knew
then what we
are just begin
ning to know
now: An NBA
player is working magic if he can
manage his own life. Asking him to
father a nation is like having R. Kel
ly over to baby-sit your kids — it’s a
big no-no.
But now we understand. Thanks
for the heads-up, Charles.
Year in and year out, NBA play
ers collect seven-digit paychecks
by satisfying our interests via a ball
Schmidt
Sports editor
and a basket. Tough gig, right?
What else could explain Allen
Iverson’s alleged outburst that
landed him four felony charges
and, today, a likely arrest?
What else would provoke for
mer Net Jayson Williams to play
cowboys and Indians inside his
house with loaded weapons?
What else would cause the
Snow Man, er, Reign Man to take
up a coke habit that landed him in
rehab — not once, but twice?
Surely, it must be the pressure of
professional basketball, the stress of
life on the road and the entrapment
of always being in the public eye.
NBA players probably do lead
tough lives. It would be impossible
to say that we know what super
stardom is like unless we’ve actu
ally lived it. I for one, have not.
But what I do know is this. One
— count them, one — college sen
ior was chosen in last month’s lot
tery. Two years ago, high school
kids littered the NBA Draft like
$100,000 cars fill the garages of
players who sign multiyear deals.
And rumor had it that a high
school junior — yes, a junior —
would have been the top pick in
the 2002 draft had NBA rules not
required a diploma.
The bottom line: While NBA
players are getting younger and
younger, a handful of experienced
veterans are acting like juvenile
delinquents. Not only are they set
ting a bad example for fans, they’re
telling rookies that their antics are
acceptable. Hate to break the news,
but that’s not the case.
Ten years ago, Charles got him
self in hot water for speaking his
mind and warning us of impend
ing doom. And, in essence, he was
right. Is an NBA player a role mod
el? Nope.
Not unless you want to make
millions of dollars, that is — all be
fore the age of 30, mind you — do
ing what you love.
No, don’t believe what Charles’
sneaker campaign of yesteryear
tried to sell us. Despite their ac
tions, NBA players are role mod
els, and it’s high time they started
acting like it. Call it an occupation
al hazard, if you like.
NBA players are in the lime
light, and it’s about time they grow
up and take some responsibility
for their actions.
It’s pretty simple, really. If the
shoe fits, wear it.
Contact the sports editor at
bradschmidt@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those ol the Emerald.
Black & white
and READ
all over
campus.
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