(AP) A judge has overturned a conviction carrying a life sentence for an Islamic scholar from Virginia who was found guilty of soliciting treason after the Sept. 11 attacks for encouraging followers to fight against the U.S. in Afghanistan.
The ruling issued Thursday from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema overturns three of the 10 counts of conviction against Ali Al-Timimi. But she upheld other counts that could leave him with decades of prison time beyond the 15 years he already served.
Al-Timimi, 60, was indicted in 2004, and convicted and sentenced in 2005. Prosecutors said the U.S.-born scholar, who grew up in the nation’s capital and had earned his doctorate in computational biology shortly before his arrest, enjoyed rockstar status among his small group of followers.
