COLORADO, USA — It's been almost a decade since the FBI arrested a man in Aurora for plotting a terror attack. Now, it will be even longer until he finally learns how long he'll be in prison.
Najibullah Zazi was arrested in 2009 after the FBI learned he was planning to set off bombs in New York City. Authorities thwarted the attack before Zazi and his co-conspirators could carry it out.
He pleaded guilty in 2010 and agreed to cooperate with investigators.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said Zazi has testified in two trials: one was against his co-conspirator Adis Medunjanin, and the second was against Al Qaeda operative Abid Naseer both in Brooklyn Federal Court. The U.S. Attorneys office says both were convicted.
Zazi was scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, but it was adjourned and will be rescheduled to a later date. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not provide a reason for the adjournment or any information about Zazi’s next court date.
It’s not the first time Zazi’s sentencing has been rescheduled, according to previous 9NEWS reports.
Even back in 2015, a federal law enforcement official called Zazi’s extended wait for sentencing “unprecedented.”
9NEWS Legal Analyst Scott Robinson said the most recent delay makes this case unusual.
“A decade delay in a federal sentencing, even considering the need for a person to testify at trials, is truly extraordinary,” Robinson said. “This the first time I’ve ever seen, heard or learned of a [nearly] 10 year delay in a sentencing imposed. But we are talking international terrorism, and those cases require painstaking, long investigations and equally painstakingly long trials.”
Zazi faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They would not comment on where he is currently being held.
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