Yemeni man says no to piracy plea bargain

NORFOLK, Va. – A Yemeni man charged with piracy for his role in the hijacking of a yacht off the coast of Africa that resulted in the deaths of four Americans decided not take a plea deal Monday, with his attorney saying he was forced to join a band of Somali pirates against his will.

Mounir Ali was scheduled to plead guilty to piracy in federal court on Monday. But his attorney, Jim Theuer, told a federal judge Ali had changed his mind. Ali had previously pleaded not guilty.

If convicted, Ali faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Ten Somali men in the case decided to plead guilty to piracy in exchange for the possibility that they could serve less time than that and eventually be deported back to Somalia. They agreed to help prosecutors with this case and possibly others.

The owners of the Quest, Jean and Scott Adam, of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay, of Seattle, were shot to death in February several days after being taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman.

They were the first U.S. citizens killed in a wave of pirate attacks that have plagued the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean in recent years, despite an international flotilla of warships that patrol the area. Four U.S. warships were shadowing the Quest and negotiations were under way when shots aboard the sailing vessel were fired.

Prosecutors don’t believe Ali or any of the 10 men who have pleaded guilty shot the Americans.

They said that three surviving men who shot the Americans and already face piracy charges would likely face additional capital charges by the end of next week.