Judge Young: Mr. Richard C. Reid, hearken now
to the sentence the Court imposes upon you. On counts 1,
5 and 6 the Court sentences you to life in prison in the
custody of the United States Attorney General. On counts
2, 3, 4 and 7, the Court sentences you to 20 years in
prison on each count, the sentence on each count to run
consecutive with the other. That's 80 years.
On count 8 the Court sentences you to the mandatory
30 years consecutive to the 80 years just imposed. The
Court imposes upon you each of the eight counts a fine
of $250,000 for the aggregate fine of $2 million.
The Court accepts the government's recommendation
with respect to restitution and orders restitution in
the amount of $298.17 to Andre Bousquet and $5,784 to
American Airlines. The Court imposes upon you the $800
special assessment. The Court imposes upon you five
years supervised release simply because the law requires
it. But the life sentences are real life sentences so I
need go no further.
This is the sentence that is provided for by our
statutes. It is a fair and just sentence. It is a
righteous sentence.
Let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of any
of your terrorist coconspirators, Mr. Reid. We are
Americans. We have been through the fire before.
There is all too much war talk here. And I say that
to everyone with the utmost respect. Here in this court,
where we deal with individuals as individuals, and care
for individuals as individuals, as human beings we reach
out for justice, you are not an enemy combatant. You are
a terrorist. You are not a soldier in any war. You are a
terrorist. To give you that reference, to call you a
soldier gives you far too much stature. Whether it is
the officers of government who do it or your attorney
who does it, or that happens to be your view, you are a
terrorist. And we do not negotiate with terrorists. We
do not treat with terrorists. We do not sign documents
with terrorists. We hunt them down one by one and bring
them to justice. So war talk is way out of line in this
court. You are a big fellow. But you are not that big.
You're no warrior. I know warriors. You are a
terrorist, a species of criminal guilty of multiple
attempted murders. In a very real sense Trooper Santiago
had it right when you first were taken off that plane
and into custody and you wondered where the press and
where the TV crews were and he said you're no big deal.
You're no big deal.
What your counsel, what your able counsel and what
the equally able United States attorneys have grappled
with and what I have as honestly as I know how tried to
grapple with, is why you did something so horrific. What
was it that led you here to this courtroom today? I have
listened respectfully to what you have to say. And I ask
you to search your heart and ask yourself what sort of
unfathomable hate led you to do what you are guilty and
admit you are guilty of doing. And I have an answer for
you. It may not satisfy you. But as I search this entire
record it comes as close to understanding as I know.
It seems to me you hate the one thing that is most
precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom.
Our individual freedom -- to live as we choose, to come
and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we
individually choose.
Here, in this society, the very winds carry freedom.
They carry it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is
because we prize individual freedom so much that you are
here in this beautiful courtroom. So that everyone can
see, truly see that justice is administered fairly,
individually, and discretely.
It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are
striving so vigorously on your behalf and have filed
appeals, will go on in their, their representation of
you before other judges.
We are about it. Because we all know that the way we
treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own
liberties. Make no mistake though. It is yet true that
we will bear any burden, pay any price, to preserve our
freedoms Look around this courtroom. Mark it well. The
world is not going to long remember what you or I say
here. Day after tomorrow it will be forgotten. But this,
however, will long endure. Here in this courtroom and
courtrooms all across America, the American people will
gather to see that justice, individual justice, justice,
not war, individual justice is in fact being done.
The very President of the United States through his
officers will have to come into courtrooms and lay out
evidence on which specific matters can be judged, and
juries of citizens will gather to sit and judge that
evidence democratically, to mold and shape and refine
our sense of justice.
See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the
United States of America. That flag will fly there long
after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for
freedom. You know it always will.
Mr. Custody Officer. Stand him down.