Ressam Sentence Tossed

A federal appeals court has just vacated the 22 year sentence of Millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam, captured in Port Angeles enroute to bomb Los Angeles International Airport days before the 2000 New Years. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said reversal was required because, among other issues, prosecutors failed to show a relationship between the underlying crime and the act of carrying an explosive. The court says Ressam must now be re-sentenced, and the government must justify its rationale for any sentence, which likely will lead to new attempts by the defense to knock years off Ressam's term.