Two Somali men received sentences of life in prison Monday for their roles in a pirate attack on a yacht off the coast of Oman that resulted in the death of four U.S. citizens, the Justice Department announced.
Ali Abdi Mohamed, 30, and Burhan Abdirahman Yusuf, 31, were sentenced at a federal court in Norfolk, Va. for hijacking the S/V Quest and later killing the boat’s owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., as well as Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle.
“This is the first case where American lives have been lost due to Somali piracy, and as Somali pirates expand their territory, the risk of violence and harm to others continues to grow,” said Neil MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement.
The two men pleaded guilty to piracy, according to a Justice Department statement, which carries a mandatory life sentence. Nine other Somalis have also pleaded guilty to participating in the attack.
The men had said they hoped to take the Americans back to Somalia so they could be ransomed, but their plans changed when four U.S. Navy ships began following them. During a standoff with the warships, the pirates killed their hostages.
Yusuf’s attorney, Robert Rigney, had argued that his client tried to persuade the others to release Jean Adam and Macay, and through an interpreter, Yusuf told Judge Mark Davis that he tried to leave but was stopped by his conspirators when violence broke out aboard the yacht, the Associated Press reported.
