Bin Laden's driver gets 5.5 years, prosecutors sought 30

The Washington Post has the story. The military judge gave him credit for 5 years and one month served in Guantanamo.

The sentence was a stunning rebuke to prosecutors who had insisted on a prison term of at least 30 years and portrayed Hamdan throughout the trial as a hardened al-Qaeda warrior. The jury of six military officers convicted him Wednesday of supporting al-Qaeda by driving and guarding bin Laden and ferrying weapons for the terror group, but he was acquitted of terror conspiracy.

Hamdan's trial by the first U.S. military commission since World War II was viewed as a test case of a system that the administration has been pushing, despite fierce opposition and repeated delays, since just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The result -- a mixed verdict and an extraordinarily light sentence -- could raise questions about the administration's strategy of taking high-profile terrorism trials out of civilian courts and bringing them before the military.

The jury's decision could also be used by the administration, however, to counter allegations that the tribunals are unfair because the rules give great latitude to prosecutors.

Although Hamdan by most accounts was a minor figure -- even the judge called him "a small player" -- the military commissions to come will try the alleged perpetrators of the Sept. 11 attacks and other terrorist acts. It is unclear what the decision might mean for other cases.

Navy Cmdr. J.D. Gordon, a Pentagon spokesman, said that the verdict and sentencing "clearly indicate the fairness of the process" and that the Defense Department respects the decisions.

It is uncertain what will happen to Hamdan when he finishes serving his time in January. Military prosecutors said during the trial that an acquittal would not change Hamdan's status as a prisoner. He was declared an enemy combatant by the military in a separate proceeding, and the administration has said it can hold such combatants until the campaign against terrorism is deemed over.

While the Bush administration could order him held, officials could also transfer him to the custody of his home country, Yemen, or release him outright. The administration has been hesitant to repatriate detainees to Yemen because of concerns about its lax handling of terrorism suspects.

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Earlier at the hearing, Hamdan had pleaded for a light sentence and apologized to U.S. victims of terrorist attacks. "It was a sorry or sad thing to see innocent people killed," he said, according to a transcript. "I personally present my apologies to them if anything I did has caused them pain."

He admitted that he kept working for the al-Qaeda leader even after he learned that bin Laden had planned terrorist attacks. But he said his only motive was supporting his family. The father of two, who has a fourth-grade education, said he needed a job and that bin Laden paid well.

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Calling Hamdan "a hardened al-Qaeda member," Justice Department prosecutor John Murphy said: "Once you see your boss killing people, you leave. You get another job. "

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Charles Swift, an attorney for Hamdan, acknowledged that his client made "a series of bad decisions." But he urged the jurors to consider Hamdan's cooperation with U.S. interrogators and said Hamdan had only wanted to support his family. "Bin Laden paid 10 times what he could have earned" in another driving job, Swift said.