Washington — A military appeals court ruled Monday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could not withdraw plea deals from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. , and two other defendants, a US official confirmed to CBS News.
Mohammed could plead guilty as early as next week at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if the Pentagon does not appeal the decision to the federal appeals court in Washington. As of Tuesday morning, the Pentagon had not filed any documents with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, according to this official.
If the plea deals are followed, all three men will plead guilty in separate hearings, and in exchange the death penalty will be taken off the table.
Military prosecutors he reached plea agreements with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, in late July after more than two years of negotiations. The agreements were approved by a senior Pentagon official who oversees the military court at Guantanamo Bay.
But days after the offers were announced, Austin said yes terminate prejudicial agreements. The defense secretary wrote in a memo that “in view of the importance” of the agreements, “responsibility for this decision should rest with me.”
The defense lawyers, on the other hand, argued the plea deals still stood and questioned whether Austin was exercising undue or illegal command of influence.
Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, the military judge overseeing the case, ruled in November that the plea agreements are valid and enforceable after finding that Austin exceeded his authority when he voided the agreements.
The three Guantanamo Bay detainees were captured by the United States in 2003, but their prosecutions have been bogged down by years of legal delays over whether evidence obtained during their interrogations at secret CIA prisons could be used in the courts They were transferred to the Guantánamo Bay military prison in 2006 and formally charged in 2008.
Prosecutors told the families of the 9/11 victims that the three arrested agreed to plead guilty to charges of conspiracy and murder in exchange for a life sentence, eliminating the death penalty as a possible punishment. They also agreed to answer questions from family members about their role and reasons for carrying out the terrorist attacks.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks that took place 23 years ago, when two hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center in New York City; a third hit the Pentagon outside Washington, DC; and a fourth, bound for Washington, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania.
contributed to this report.