AP, Newsday Want Zazi Plea Agreement Unsealed

By Hsiang-Ching Tseng | February 24, 2022 4:21 pm

The Associated Press and Newsday are asking a federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., to make public the plea agreement between prosecutors and Najibullah Zazi, the alleged NYC subways bomber, the AP reported Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie sealed both Zazi’s plea agreement and the application requesting the plea agreement be sealed, according to the AP. The news organizations argued in court papers that the public has a right to access the documents unless there’s an overriding reason to seal them.

Zazi pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy earlier this week and admitted he planned to bomb the New York City subways around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on two of the counts and up to 15 years on the third. His sentencing is scheduled for June 25.

Newsday, a newspaper serving New York City and the Long Island, initially asked to unseal the document, and the Associated Press joined it Wednesday.