Judge Sentences Adel Daoud, Charged In 2012 Chicago Bomb Plot, To 16 Years
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) — A 25-year-old was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison after trying to ignite what he thought was a real car bomb outside a downtown Chicago bar.
The judge's sentence Monday for Adel Daoud follows a hearing held last week. Prosecutors wanted a 40-year prison term. The defense hoped Daoud would have be released by 2021. Daoud also will be under 45 years of supervision after his release.
Among the factors that Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman had to consider was whether the FBI improperly manipulated a mentally fragile Daoud.
Coleman criticized both sides for what she described as "hyperbole" and "hysterics" during the trial. She acknowledged Daoud's childishness and mental health struggles, but said the seriousness of his crimes could not be underestimated.
Daoud was 18 when he was arrested after parking a car outside the bar and pushing a button he believed would detonate a powerful bomb.
Agents supplied the fake device and made it smell like diesel fuel to convince Daoud that it was real.
Daoud, of the Chicago suburb of Hillside, was arrested in an FBI sting in September 2012 after pushing a button on a remote he believed would set off a car bomb powerful enough to destroy much of the block. Undercover agents had supplied the fake bomb to Daoud, who was 18 at the time, telling him it would kill hundreds of people.
The federal complaint against Daoud did not specify the bar that he targeted.