[An Nahar] A U.S. court on Wednesday convicted five Somali men of piracy over a 2010 attack on a U.S. naval ship in the corsair-infested waters off the Horn of Africa.The five men were on a skiff that fired an AK-47 at the USS Ashland, a dock-landing vessel, which fired back with a 25mm machine gun, setting the pirates' ship on fire and killing one of its crew members.
| And the survivors go to prison for a decade for piracy? Score! |
Three of the men were alleged to have previously gone to sea on a separate raid in February 2010 before being intercepted by Britannia's Royal Navy.
In November 2010 a Virginia court sentenced the alleged ringleader of the group to 30 years in a plea bargain under which he admitted to having attacked the Ashland using a firearm.
The five men convicted on Wednesday are to be sentenced July 1-2 on a range of charges that carry maximum punishments of 10 years to life in prison.
"These men were pirates -- plain and simple,' said U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia. "They attacked a ship hoping to hold it ransom for millions of dollars. Few crimes are older than piracy on the high seas, and today's verdict shows that the United States takes it very seriously."
| Assuming the Ninth Circuit lets us... |