Canadian Terrorist Sentenced to 16 Years

(Oct. 25) -- Fahim Ahmad, a homegrown Canadian terrorist, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for organizing a terror cell with plans to attack Canada's parliament, electrical grid, nuclear sites and other targets throughout the country.

Ahmad, 26, is accused of being one of two leaders of the "Toronto 18," a group of 18 men and boys who were arrested in Toronto in 2006 after trying to buy three tons of ammonium nitrate from undercover law enforcement officers. Police say Ahmad was responsible for recruiting members online and ran two training camps in Ontario, where he sized up his recruits' abilities.

Ahmad pleaded guilty in May to participating in a terrorist group, importing firearms and instructing others to carry out an activity for a terrorist group.

During his trial, the prosecution played a recording of Ahmad telling recruits to "cut off some heads" and "kill everybody" during the planned attack on parliament, according to the CBC. The court also watched a video of Ahmad giving a rousing speech at the training camp, his face illuminated only by a flashlight, and standing in the snow under a white tarp, according to CTV.

"Our mission's greater. Whether we get arrested, whether we (get) killed, we get tortured, our mission's greater than just individuals," Ahmad said in the video.

A police informant who was at the camp testified that all the recruits were present for the speech.

But, though he sounded really scary, Ontario Superior Court of Justice Judge Fletcher Dawson said he wasn't a very good terrorist and wasn't ever close to pulling off any of his schemes. Dawson gave Ahmad the relatively lenient sentence of 16 years in prison, for which he will get double credit for each of the four and a half years he has already spent in custody. That means he will be eligible for parole in a mere three and a half years, according to Reuters.

"I am not dealing with someone who remains openly defiant," Dawson said, according to CBC. "Perhaps I'm only optimistic, but I see prospects of rehabilitation."

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