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Judge Criticizes Sentencing in Paintball Case

HeadlineJun 16, 2004

In Virginia, three Muslim men were sentenced to up to life in prison after the government accused the men of training for holy war abroad by playing paintball games in the Virginia woods. One man was sentenced to life. Another to 85 years and the third got eight years. The men were accused of being connected to a Pakistani group Lashkar-i-Taiba which is trying to drive India from the disputed region of Kashmir. In an unusual development, the judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Lonnie Brinkema, called the lengthy sentences “appalling” and “draconian” but said she had no choice under federal law. She said “We have murderers who get far less time. I’ve sent Al Qaeda members planning attacks on these shores to less time. This is sticking in my craw. Law and justice at times need to be in tune.” One of the defendant’s attorneys called the sentence “the greatest miscarriage of justice of any case” he has been involved in 34 years of practice.

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