Plea deals revived for alleged 9/11 mastermind, 2 others, official says

Source: CBS News/AP

Updated on: November 7, 2024 / 7:46 AM EST


WASHINGTON — A military judge has ruled that plea agreements struck by alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants are valid, voiding an order by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to throw out the deals, a defense official confirmed to CBS News Thursday.

The New York Times and Associated Press were first to report the news.

The official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the order by the judge, Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, has not yet been posted publicly or officially announced.

The plea agreements would spare Mohammed and the others the risk of the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas in the long-running 9/11 case. Government prosecutors had negotiated the deals with defense attorneys under government auspices, and the top official for the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had approved them.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/september-11th-mastermind-plea-deal-revived/