(Courthouse News) A Lebanese man who told the FBI he planned to become a suicide bomber for the terrorist group Hezbollah fought to overturn his 40-year sentence at the Second Circuit on Tuesday, saying agents led him to believe the information he provided would secure his immunity from prosecution.
Ali Kourani explained over the course of five interviews that he had scouted airports and government buildings in New York City as potential targets for attacks.
Agents told Kourani that the meetings would “remain confidential,” after the sleeper agent said he feared for his family’s and his own safety. But the information was then used to convict Kourani on eight counts of terrorism.
He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
