Son of Suriname president is sentenced in NY to over 16 years in prison after US terror sting
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2003 file photo, Dino Bouterse, son of Suriname President Desi Bouterse, arrives to a court hearing in Paramaribo, Suriname. Dino Bouterse received leniency Tuesday, March 10, 2015, from a judge who ordered him to serve over 16 years in prison, about half of the 30-to-life term the U.S. government sought after he admitted that he offered a home base in his South American country to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. (AP Photo/Edward Troon, File) (The Associated Press)
The son of the president of Suriname has been sentenced in New York to over 16 years in prison after admitting he sought to offer a home base in his South American country to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The sentence imposed on Dino Bouterse on Tuesday by federal Judge Shira Scheindlin (SHEER'-uh SHYND'-lihn) in Manhattan was about half of what the U.S. government had insisted was a just punishment.
The case resulted from a sting operation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In pleading guilty last August, Bouterse admitted he provided a fake passport to someone he believed was a Hezbollah operative.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prosecutors had called for a sentence of 30 years to life. Bouterse said in a letter to the judge his actions were "wrong, bad and reprehensible."