Prosecutors recommend 25-year prison sentence in Mass. terror case; defence asks for 6.5 years

Denise Lavoie, The Associated Press

BOSTON - Federal prosecutors are recommending a 25-year prison sentence for a Massachusetts man convicted of conspiring to help al-Qaida.

Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury was convicted in December of travelling to Yemen to seek training in a terrorist camp with the intention of going on to Iraq to fight U.S. soldiers there.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.

In a sentencing recommendation filed in court Tuesday, prosecutors said that although Mehanna was not successful in getting terrorist training, he attempted to engage in violent actions himself and worked to recruit others to do so.

Mehanna's lawyers say he should not be sentenced to more than 6 1/2 years in prison. They say he never ended up receiving terrorist training, never provided any funds or weapons to al-Qaida and never actually threatened U.S. security interests.