Padilla is sentenced to 17 years
Padilla, a US citizen who was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest, was sentenced to 17 years and four months.
Jose Padilla, once accused of plotting with al-Qaida to blow up a radioactive ``dirty bomb,'' was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years and four months on terrorism conspiracy charges that don't mention those initial allegations.The sentence imposed by US District Judge Marcia Cooke marks another step in the extraordinary personal and legal odyssey for the 37-year-old Muslim convert, a US citizen who was held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant after his 2002 arrest amid the ``dirty bomb'' allegations.