Family members and supporters of Tahawwur Rana leave after his sentencing in federal court.
A thin, bespectacled and gray-haired Tawahhur Rana attended Thursday's proceedings. He was wearing an orange federal prison-issue uniform, white socks and blue slip on shoes. He did not turn around to greet his family and friends like he normally does at court hearings.
Many of his supporters, some of whom were in court, had written letters to Judge Harry D Leinenweber vouching for his character. Before pronouncing the sentence of 14 years in prison, the judge cited some of these letters saying the defendant was evidently an intelligent person capable of providing assistance "in a good way" to many people. He, however, was "baffled" by the paradoxical nature of Rana's involvement with the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Mr Leinenweber said he could not understand the mindset that would allow Rana to participate in a plot that, if successful, would have killed or injured many people. "We have on the one hand a very intelligent person capable of providing assistance and has provided assistance to many people," Mr Leinenweber said. "What's difficult to understand is how a person with that intelligence and history of caring for people... how such a person could get sucked into a dastardly plot"?
Defence attorneys argued that childhood friend David Headley, the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, had manipulated Rana. The question now is what sentence will co-accused David Coleman Headley be given? Having pleaded guilty to plotting the Mumbai attacks, which resulted in the death of 166 people including six Americans, it seems logical that at the very least his sentence will match Rana's, if not be harsher. The smooth talking Pakistani-American Headley has entered into a plea bargain deal with US authorities. In return for his testimony against smaller fry accomplices like Rana he has ensured that he will avoid the death penalty, and cannot be extradited to India, Pakistan or Denmark. So the question is: can and will Headley really be given a just and harsh sentence given the fact that the US war on terror is far from over and his cooperation against groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed could still be required?
On Thursday, Mr Leinenweber spoke frankly on the issue of deterring others from similar conduct. "I'm not sure that anything I do today will deter people with a mindset to engage in terrorism," he said. "I don't think they care what happens to them." Words that will surely be on his mind next Thursday as he decides on a sentence for David Headley.