RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A former Russian military tank commander convicted of leading a Taliban attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan is set to be sentenced.
Sentencing for Irek Hamidullin is scheduled Thursday at the federal court in Richmond.
The 55-year-old Hamidullin was found guilty in August on 15 counts, including providing material support to terrorism, attempting to destroy U.S. aircraft and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Prosecutors are asking for a life sentence. Hamidullin’s attorney wants the judge to grant a sentence of 30 years with a term of supervised release.
The case was unique from others that have been tried in the U.S. involving terror suspects because Hamidullin was a combatant captured on the battlefield and not a financier, recruiter or schemer arrested outside the theater of war.
