Friday, January 11, 2013
A federal judge on Friday sentenced Melaku, who shot at five buildings in Northern Virginia in 2010.
Yonathan Melaku, a former Marine reservist who shot at multiple military sites in Northern Virginia, was sentenced on Friday to 25 years in prison. As part of a plea agreement, Melaku, 25, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty last year to three counts, and admitted shooting at the Pentagon, recruiting sites in Woodbridge and Chantilly, the U.S. Marine Corps Heritage Museum in Triangle, and the National Museum in Triangle over a one-month period in 2010. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee called the case "a bizarre set of facts for a former Marine," and said that the activity might indeed be "the product of mental illness." Melaku was recently diagnosed as schizophrenic, and his lawyers had called for a review of the plea agreement. Lee said that …
Defense attorneys for Yonathan Melaku, who shot at military buildings in Woodbridge, Triangle and other areas, said that new evidence shows their client is schizophrenic and was never fully advised of his rights.
Defense attorneys for Yonathan Melaku—who pleaded guilty last year to firing shots at five military buildings in the metropolitan area—say new evidence has emerged that their client is mentally ill and the court should review his plea agreement. Melaku, 25, of Alexandria, suffers from severe Schizophrenia and experienced delusions and hallucinations at the time of his offenses, according to a written motion filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Wednesday by defense attorneys Geoffrey Gitner, William Martin and Kerry Verdi. They wrote that he should be re-apprised of his rights, but they were not trying to withdraw the plea. The plea agreement calls for 25 years. If prosecuted to the fullest extent and convicted, Melaku would face …
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Yonathan Melaku, 22, faces federal charges in connection with five separate shootings at military installations in Northern Virginia between October and November 2010.
Federal prosecutors today announced the arrest of Marine reservist Yonathan Melaku in connection with five separate shootings at military buildings in Northern Virginia between October and November 2010. Law enforcement officials say Melaku, 22, of Alexandria, possessed explosive-making materials that are similar to those used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, as well as writings about terrorist organizations such as the Taliban. He is charged with two counts of destruction of property and two counts of using, carrying and shooting a gun in the commission of a violent crime. He faces at least 10 years in prison. One of the shootings, which never injured anyone, was on either Nov. 1 at night or Nov. 2 early in the morning at the U.S. Coast…
sandra
11:45 pm on Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Good!!! Now we know he won't be shooting people the next time. more ›