A US military plea deal with a Pakistani Guantanamo detainee will cap at 25 years the term to be served by the 31-year-old, court documents show.
In exchange, Majid Khan Shoukat said he would testify against his fellow prisoners accused of terrorist attacks.
Khan has agreed to plead guilty at a military tribunal to be held yesterday to charges that he participated in terrorist plots along with accused Sept. 11, 2001, mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
The US government released the 37-page plea bargain document publicly on Tuesday on the Web site of the military commission that is prosecuting the detainees.
Many of the terms of the plea agreement remain classified.
The military plans to delay Khan’s sentencing until Feb. 29, 2016, to see whether he complies with his agreement to testify against other detainees, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Khan is a former US resident who attended high school in Baltimore, Maryland, where his parents ran a gas station.
If he meets the conditions of the plea bargain, he would get a reduced sentence, a legal advisor to the military tribunal said. He could also be transferred to his native Pakistan, where he has a wife and child.
According to a court document, on Feb. 13 “the accused signed and provided an offer for pretrial agreement to the Convening Authority seeking to resolve this case via guilty plea. On 15 February 2012, the Convening Authority accepted the offer and entered into the [plea bargain agreement].”
The Convening Authority refers to the Pentagon legal official who oversees the trials.
Military officers on a jury could sentence Khan to 25 years to 40 years in prison.
However, the plea bargain says the Convening Authority would agree to impose no more than a 25-year sentence on him. He could also choose a lesser sentence for the detainee.
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