A U.S. military jury gave Osama bin Laden’s driver a surprisingly light sentence on Thursday, making him eligible for release in just five months despite the prosecutors’ request for at least a 30-year sentence to deter would-be terrorists.
Salim Hamdan’s sentence of 5 1/2 years, including five years and a month already served at Guantanamo Bay, fell far short of the life sentence he could have gotten for aiding terrorism by driving and guarding bin Laden. It now goes for mandatory review to a Pentagon official who can shorten the sentence but not extend it.
