According to the New York Daily News, he was at the time 17 to 19 years old. The Maersk Alabama's crew tried to trade Muse for Phillips but were rebuffed by the pirates. Abduwali Muses biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story. Unable to take control of the massive ship, the remaining three pirates grabbed Phillips and put to sea in a lifeboat. A federal judge in New York has sentenced Somali pirate Abduwali Muse to 33 years and nine months in prison for hijacking a container ship in the Indian Ocean, taking the captain hostage, and for. After he and the other would-be pirates boarded the vessel, Muse was stabbed in the hand by a member of the 20-man crew during a struggle, and was then tied up by the crew. Muse and three other men stormed the Maersk Alabama, a 500-foot U.S.-flagged container ship, on April 8, 2009. 'Now he will pay for those five days and the events leading up to them.' Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement after the sentencing. 'For five days that must have seemed like an eternity to this victims, Abduwali Abukhadir Muse terrorized the crew of the Maersk Alabama,' said U.S. Preska teared up and removed her glasses and then gave Muse the maximum permitted sentence, 33 years and nine months, citing the need for deterrence. Prior to announcing the sentence, Judge Preska read aloud from Phillips' letter and from letters written by other members of the crew about how the hijacking had affected them. 'He was just as much a terrorist to them as to me.' 'My family had to endure the five days, worrying and wondering what was going to happen,' wrote Phillips. Phillips called Muse a 'terrorist,' said he had endured mock killings at the hands of the pirates, and asked for justice and a 'proper sentence' on behalf of 'all Merchant Mariners.' 'I ask for forgiveness from all the people I harmed, including the U.S. government in a New York courtroom today, but instead received nearly the maximum sentence allowed - nearly 34 years in prison.Ībduwali Abdiqadir Muse pled guilty last year to being part of an armed crew that stormed the Maersk Alabama in the Indian Ocean in April 2009 and took its captain, Richard Phillips, hostage for five days.Īt his sentencing Wednesday morning, Muse, clad in a green shirt and khaki slacks, apologized at length for his career as a pirate. 16, 2011 — - A Somali pirate asked for forgiveness from his victims and from the U.S.

Abduwali muse real life