A federal appeals court has determined that a 28-year prison sentence is too lenient for Ahmed Abu Khatallah, a Libyan militant convicted of terrorism-related charges in the 2012 attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya. The ruling, issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, sends the case back to the district court for resentencing.
The three-judge panel stated that the 28-year sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in 2024, does not adequately reflect the seriousness of Khatallah's crimes. This is not the first time an appellate court has found a sentence for Khatallah to be insufficient; a previous sentence of 22 years in 2018 was rejected four years prior as "shockingly" light.
The appeals court highlighted Khatallah's role in the premeditated attack on a U.S. diplomatic outpost, noting that he influenced Libyan security forces to not patrol the mission during the assault. The ruling also stated that Khatallah's only expressed regret was that the attackers did not kill all Americans present at the mission.
Khatallah was apprehended in 2014 and subsequently convicted in 2017 on multiple terrorism-related charges, though he was acquitted of murder charges by the jury. The Benghazi attack, which resulted in the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, became a significant political issue in Washington. A Republican-led congressional investigation at the time attributed blame to the Obama administration, including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for security lapses and a delayed response to the attacks.