WASHINGTON — A U.S. federal appeals court has ordered a new sentencing hearing for Libyan militant Ahmed Abu Khatallah, ruling that the 28-year prison term imposed for his role in the 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi was unreasonably lenient given the gravity of his crimes.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the sentence on Friday and remanded the case to the federal district court in Washington for resentencing. The panel concluded that the punishment failed to adequately reflect Khatallah's conduct in the assault that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
The ruling marks the second time the appellate court has rejected Khatallah's sentence. In 2018, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to 22 years in prison. The appeals court overturned that sentence in 2022, describing it as "shockingly" low and directing the lower court to impose a new sentence. Cooper subsequently resentenced Khatallah to 28 years in 2024, but the government again appealed.
In its latest opinion, the appellate court said the revised sentence still did not account for the seriousness of the offenses. The judges wrote that Khatallah helped plan and carry out a premeditated armed attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission, pressured a Libyan security force not to patrol the compound during the assault, and expressed regret only that more Americans were not killed.
The decision was issued by Circuit Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan. The case now returns to the district court, where a new sentencing hearing will be scheduled.
Khatallah was captured in Libya by U.S. forces in 2014 and brought to the United States for trial. In 2017, a federal jury convicted him on multiple terrorism-related charges tied to the Benghazi attacks but acquitted him of murder and several other counts.
The September 11, 2012, attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi became a major political issue in Washington, prompting multiple congressional investigations. A Republican-led House panel later criticized security preparations and the U.S. government's response, while the criminal proceedings against Khatallah have continued through years of appeals. With Friday's ruling, the latest confirmed step is another resentencing proceeding before the district court.
